Save a flextable as an image
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flextable 0.5.4 is now on CRAN. It contains a new output option that some users were asking: image output. You can now save a flextable as a png or pdf file with function save_as_image.
The solution was existing since a long time but was buried in a stackoverflow question instead of being provided in flextable as an option.
This functionality is letting other options to be available, you can now use method plot and also as_raster and do whatever you’d like with the raster (combine with a ggplot object for example).
Demo
First, let’s create a simple flextable.
library(flextable) ft <- flextable( head( mtcars ) ) ft <- autofit(ft) ft
mpg | cyl | disp | hp | drat | wt | qsec | vs | am | gear | carb |
21.000 | 6.000 | 160.000 | 110.000 | 3.900 | 2.620 | 16.460 | 0.000 | 1.000 | 4.000 | 4.000 |
21.000 | 6.000 | 160.000 | 110.000 | 3.900 | 2.875 | 17.020 | 0.000 | 1.000 | 4.000 | 4.000 |
22.800 | 4.000 | 108.000 | 93.000 | 3.850 | 2.320 | 18.610 | 1.000 | 1.000 | 4.000 | 1.000 |
21.400 | 6.000 | 258.000 | 110.000 | 3.080 | 3.215 | 19.440 | 1.000 | 0.000 | 3.000 | 1.000 |
18.700 | 8.000 | 360.000 | 175.000 | 3.150 | 3.440 | 17.020 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 3.000 | 2.000 |
18.100 | 6.000 | 225.000 | 105.000 | 2.760 | 3.460 | 20.220 | 1.000 | 0.000 | 3.000 | 1.000 |
You can save it as a png:
save_as_image(ft, path = "name.png")
You can plot it:
plot(ft)
Or combine the table with a ggplot object:
library(ggplot2) library(grid) library(cowplot) ft_raster <- as_raster(ft) anyplot <- qplot(speed, dist, data = cars, geom = "point") gflextable <- ggplot() + theme_void() + annotation_custom(rasterGrob(ft_raster), xmin=-Inf, xmax=Inf, ymin=-Inf, ymax=Inf) plot_grid(anyplot, gflextable, nrow = 2, ncol = 1, rel_heights = c(4, 1) )
About width and height
When a flextable is printed, it may be useful to know the exact width and height
of the table to be sure to set up the correct aspect ratio. The function
flextable_dim() will provide these informations without the need to produce
the image.
dims <- flextable_dim(ft) dims #> $widths #> [1] 7.948045 #> #> $heights #> [1] 2.035298 #> #> $aspect_ratio #> [1] 0.2560753
You can reuse them as values for knitr chunk options fig.asp, fig.width and fig.height.
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