How to align an ordinary ggplot with a faceted one in cowplot?

Question

I\'m trying to arrange plots for publication with the use of cowplot package.
I just want the panels to be equally sized and labelled.

Reproducibl

Answer 1

here's a solution based on this idea

library(ggplot2)
library(grid)
library(gridExtra)
library(gtable)

gtable_frame <- function(g, width=unit(1,"null"), height=unit(1,"null")){
  panels <- g[["layout"]][grepl("panel", g[["layout"]][["name"]]), ]
  ll <- unique(panels$l)
  tt <- unique(panels$t)

  fixed_ar <- g$respect
  if(fixed_ar) { # there lies madness, want to align despite aspect ratio constraints
    ar <- as.numeric(g$heights[tt[1]]) / as.numeric(g$widths[ll[1]])
    height <- width * ar
    g$respect <- FALSE
  }

  core <- g[seq(min(tt), max(tt)), seq(min(ll), max(ll))]
  top <- g[seq(1, min(tt)-1), ]
  bottom <- g[seq(max(tt)+1, nrow(g)), ]
  left <- g[, seq(1, min(ll)-1)]
  right <- g[, seq(max(ll)+1, ncol(g))]

  fg <- nullGrob()
  lg <-  if(length(left))  g[seq(min(tt), max(tt)), seq(1, min(ll)-1)] else fg
  rg <- if(length(right)) g[seq(min(tt), max(tt)), seq(max(ll)+1,ncol(g))] else fg
  grobs = list(fg, g[seq(1, min(tt)-1), seq(min(ll), max(ll))], fg, 
               lg, g[seq(min(tt), max(tt)), seq(min(ll), max(ll))], rg, 
               fg, g[seq(max(tt)+1, nrow(g)), seq(min(ll), max(ll))], fg)
  widths <- unit.c(sum(left$widths), width, sum(right$widths))
  heights <- unit.c(sum(top$heights), height, sum(bottom$heights))
  all <- gtable_matrix("all", grobs = matrix(grobs, ncol=3, nrow=3, byrow = TRUE), 
                       widths = widths, heights = heights)
  all[["layout"]][5,"name"] <- "panel" # make sure knows where the panel is for nested calls
  if(fixed_ar)  all$respect <- TRUE
  all
}


p1 <- ggplot(mtcars)+
  geom_point(aes(x=mpg,y=hp))+
  theme_bw()+
  theme(aspect.ratio=1)

p2 <- ggplot(mtcars)+
  geom_point(aes(x=mpg,y=hp,fill=cyl))+
  facet_wrap(~cyl,ncol=2)+
  theme_bw()+
  theme(aspect.ratio=1,
        legend.position='none')

g1 <- ggplotGrob(p1)
g2 <- ggplotGrob(p2)
fg1 <- gtable_frame(g1)
fg2 <- gtable_frame(g2)
grid.newpage()
grid.draw(cbind(fg1, fg2))

Note that the gtable_frame function wraps plots based on their panels, but excluding the panel strips by design (I find it more pleasant).