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# 2D Histograms in R

How to make a 2D histogram in R. A 2D histogram is a visualization of a bivariate distribution.

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library(plotly)
packageVersion('plotly')

## [1] '4.5.2'


#### Basic 2D Histogram

2D histograms require x/y, but in contrast to heatmaps, z is optional. If z is not provided, binning occurs in the browser (see here for a list of binning options).

# install.packages('mvtnorm')
library(plotly)

s <- matrix(c(1, -.75, -.75, 1), ncol = 2)
obs <- mvtnorm::rmvnorm(500, sigma = s)
p <- plot_ly(x = obs[,1], y = obs[,2])
pp <- subplot(
)

# Set up API credentials: https://plot.ly/r/getting-started


#### Colorscale

If z is not provided, the only way to control coloring is through the colorscale attribute

p <- p %>% add_histogram2d(colorscale = "Blues")

# Set up API credentials: https://plot.ly/r/getting-started


#### Z Matrix

If you want more control for the binning algorithm, you can supply a 2D table or matrix to z. In this case, the R package will impose it's colorscale default (and the colors argument can be used to control the colorscale from R):

cnt <- with(diamonds, table(cut, clarity))
p <- plot_ly(diamonds, x = ~cut, y = ~clarity, z = ~cnt) %>%