Bodybuildr creates infographics row by row • bodybuildr

Build cool infographics in R by building the body row by row.

bodybuildr solves the annoying part of infographic work: layout. Instead of fighting with absolute positioning, you stack flexible rows with consistent lanes, gaps, and padding. Each row can be text, a plot, an image, or a custom grob, and the whole thing exports cleanly to PDF.

The name is the point: you build the body one row at a time.

Why bodybuildr?

Compose complex infographics by stacking rows on a canvas.
Mix text, ggplot2 objects, images, and grobs in the same row.
Write cell content in plain text, Markdown, or raw HTML.
Add native tables with selectable text — text-only or mixed content (plots, images, grobs).
Control spacing with layout styles (lanes, gaps, margins) and box styles.
Export to PDF with predictable sizing using grid units.

Install

If the package is on CRAN:

install.packages("bodybuildr")

If you are installing from GitHub:

# install.packages("remotes")
remotes::install_github("sunstone-bioinformatics/bodybuildr")

Quick start

library(bodybuildr)

# Build a banner
banner <- str_banner_row(
  image_path = "path/to/logo.png",
  title = "Project Title",
  subtitle = "Short, punchy summary"
)

# Add a subtitle band
subtitle <- str_subtitle_row(
  label = "Key Findings",
  layout_style = layout_style(
    type = "subtitle",
    outer_margin = grid::unit(10, "pt"),
    bottom_margin = grid::unit(6, "pt")
  ),
  text_style = text_style(color = "white", size = 14, face = "bold")
)

# Build a 3-column row with per-panel styling
row <- str_n_panel_row(
  items = list(
    blank_box(),
    "Centered middle text",
    blank_box()
  ),
  layout_style = layout_style(
    type = "columns",
    column_gap = grid::unit(8, "pt"),
    outer_margin = grid::unit(6, "pt"),
    bottom_margin = grid::unit(6, "pt")
  )
)

# Assemble the canvas row by row
canvas <- new_canvas()
canvas <- canvas_add_row(canvas, banner,   grid::unit(1.6, "in"))
canvas <- canvas_add_row(canvas, subtitle, grid::unit(0.9, "in"))
canvas <- canvas_add_row(canvas, row,      grid::unit(3.0, "in"))

# Export
export_pdf(canvas, file = "infographic.pdf")

Core building blocks

Row builders: - str_banner_row() — logo + title/subtitle banner - str_subtitle_row() — full-width subtitle band - str_n_panel_row() — 1..n equal-width columns - str_three_panel_row() — asymmetric A | (B over C) layout

Cell content helpers: - text_box() — plain text with per-cell style overrides - md_text_box() — Markdown text (bold, italic, lists, headings, links) - html_text_box() — raw HTML passed to gridtext (, , ,  , , ) - blank_box() — intentional empty slot that still participates in layout

Table helpers: - table_box() — data.frame → native grid table with selectable text; columns fill available width - rich_table_box() — table where each cell can be text, image, ggplot, grob, or NULL

Styling helpers: - text_style() and box_style() — typography and box styling - layout_style(type = ...) — row spacing, lanes, and backgrounds - banner_layout_style(), column_layout_style(), subtitle_layout_style(), three_panel_layout_style() — row-specific aliases

Canvas helpers: - new_canvas() and canvas_add_row() — stack rows vertically - export_pdf() — write final PDF

Rich text example

library(bodybuildr)

# Markdown cell
findings <- md_text_box(
  "**Key findings:**\n\n- Primary endpoint met (p < 0.001)\n- *n* = 1,204 patients\n- 12-month follow-up",
  box_style = box_style(fill = "#F0F9FF", border_color = "#BAE6FD")
)

# HTML cell with colored spans
status <- html_text_box(
  'Result: <span style="color:#16A34A;"><b>Met</b></span><br/>p-value: <b>0.0003</b>',
  box_style = box_style(fill = "#F0FDF4")
)

canvas <- new_canvas()
canvas <- canvas_add_row(canvas, str_n_panel_row(list(findings, status)), grid::unit(2, "in"))
export_pdf(canvas, file = "output.pdf")

Table example

# Text-only table (selectable text in PDF)
tbl <- table_box(
  data.frame(Metric = c("n", "Mean age"), Value = c("1,204", "52.3")),
  header_fill = "#1E3A8A"
)

# Mixed-content table (text + plots + images per cell)
rtbl <- rich_table_box(
  headers = c("Gene", "Trend", "Status"),
  rows = list(
    list("BRCA1", my_sparkline_plot, "path/to/green_dot.png"),
    list("TP53",  another_plot,      "path/to/red_dot.png")
  ),
  col_widths = c(2, 3, 1),
  row_height = grid::unit(0.5, "in")
)

canvas <- new_canvas()
canvas <- canvas_add_row(canvas, str_n_panel_row(list(tbl, rtbl)), grid::unit(3, "in"))
export_pdf(canvas, file = "output.pdf")

Notes

Uses grid units (grid::unit) for sizing; keep units consistent.
ggplot2 support is optional; install it to render plots in rows.
table_box() and rich_table_box() require gridExtra; md_text_box() requires commonmark.

Cairo and PDF rendering

export_pdf() uses cairo_pdf() when available for full UTF-8 support (bullet points, accented characters, rich text from md_text_box() and html_text_box()). Without Cairo it falls back to pdf(), which may substitute some characters.

Platform	Status	Fix
Windows	Built into R	Nothing needed
Linux	Usually present	`sudo apt install libcairo2-dev` then reinstall R
macOS	Requires XQuartz	Install from https://www.xquartz.org and restart R

Verify Cairo is active: capabilities("cairo") should return TRUE.