cetzDevice

The cetzDevice package provides a graphics output device for R that records plots in a Typst-friendly format. The device transforms plotting commands issued by R functions into Typst code blocks. When included in a paper typeset by Typst, these blocks are interpreted with the help of CeTZ, a drawing package written by Johannes Wolf, fenjalien, and contributors.

Using cetzDevice, the text of R plots can contain Typst markup and mathematical formulae. LaTeX labels can also be used through MiTeX. The device allows arbitrary CeTZ code to be inserted into the output stream.

The cetzDevice supports three main modes of output:

• Figure chunks: placed in .typ files and suitable for inclusion in Typst documents via #import and r-figure().

• Stand alone figures: complete Typst documents containing figure code that can be compiled into stand-alone images. Pages are cropped to the size of the figure.

• Console output: CeTZ code is written directly to the R console for further manipulation.

Base graphics and grid graphics, including ggplot2, are supported. Figures can also be placed inside an existing CeTZ canvas using r-draw() or r-elements().

See the package manual for usage and examples. When installed with vignettes, the same manual is available from R:

vignette("cetzDevice", package = "cetzDevice")

Obtaining the Package

Source packages, the user manual, and the API reference are available from GitHub Releases. To install a downloaded source package:

install.packages("cetzDevice_0.5.3.1.tar.gz", repos = NULL, type = "source")

Development builds may be installed directly from GitHub:

install.packages("remotes")
remotes::install_github("SchrodingerBlume/cetzDevice")

Add build_vignettes = TRUE to install the manual as a vignette. Building the manual requires LaTeX.

Source code is available from GitHub, too:

git clone https://github.com/SchrodingerBlume/cetzDevice.git
R CMD INSTALL cetzDevice

Building from source requires R 4.1.0 or newer and a C compiler. The default text measurement backend requires the Typst CLI, version 0.15.0 or newer. Exported figures use CeTZ 0.5.3; Typst downloads this package on first use. An installed copy in Typst's package cache can be used offline.

The optional systemfonts backend allows plots with plain text labels to be exported without running Typst. Typst is still needed to compile the figures.

Version Numbers

The package version has four components. The first three give the exact CeTZ version; the fourth counts cetzDevice releases for that version, starting at one. For example, 0.5.3.2 is the second device release for CeTZ 0.5.3. The device revision restarts at one when the CeTZ version changes.

Support starts with CeTZ 0.5.3; earlier CeTZ releases have not been adapted. This release requires Typst 0.15.0 or newer. cetz_backend() reports the pinned CeTZ version and the minimum Typst version.

Reporting Bugs and Getting Help

Primary development takes place on GitHub. The preferred way to communicate bugs and feature requests is to open an issue at the primary repository:

https://github.com/SchrodingerBlume/cetzDevice/issues

Please include the R code needed to reproduce the problem, the output of sessionInfo(), and the Typst version. Questions about usage may be posted there as well.

Users are encouraged to fork the repository and contribute to the development of the package. See the development guide for checks, documentation builds, and automated releases.

Acknowledgements

The design of this package follows tikzDevice, originally written by Charlie Sharpsteen and Cameron Bracken and maintained by Ralf Stubner and contributors. Its approach to graphics output and typesetter-based font metrics provided the model for cetzDevice. The organization of this README and the package manual follows their documentation.

We would also like to thank Johannes Wolf, fenjalien, and the CeTZ contributors for the drawing library used by every figure produced by this device, and the R Core Team for the R graphics engine.

Latest Changes

See the NEWS file for latest changes.