Using only base graphics, one solution would be to embed the inner polygon in the outer one and turn off the border:
par(mai=c(0, 0, 0, 0)) plot(1:100, type="n") polygon(c(0, 100, 100, 0, 0, 20, 80, 80, 20, 20, 0), c(0, 0, 100, 100, 0, 20, 20, 80, 80, 20, 0), col="lightblue", border=NA) ------------------------------------- David L Carlson Department of Anthropology Texas A&M University College Station, TX 77840-4352 -----Original Message----- From: R-help [mailto:r-help-boun...@r-project.org] On Behalf Of Adrian Du?a Sent: Wednesday, December 2, 2015 6:07 AM To: r-help@r-project.org Subject: [R] fill the area outside a polygon Dear All, I know how to fill a polygon, using a basic R graphics device: par(mai=c(0, 0, 0, 0)) plot(1:100, type="n") polygon(c(20, 80, 80, 20), c(20, 20, 80, 80), col="lightblue") But let's say I have an outer polygon like this: polygon(c(0,100,100,0), c(0,0,100,100)) Is it possible to fill the area between the two polygons? I realise there is a quick and dirty solution to fill the outer polygon, then draw the inner polygon colored with white, but I would like to actually "clip" the outer polygon to the boundaries of the inner one. Of course, there are various packages which draw maps (i.e. maptools), but I need this in base R graphics. In other words, is it possible to define a polygon with a hole inside, in base R? Thank you, Adrian -- Adrian Dusa University of Bucharest Romanian Social Data Archive Soseaua Panduri nr.90 050663 Bucharest sector 5 Romania [[alternative HTML version deleted]] ______________________________________________ R-help@r-project.org mailing list -- To UNSUBSCRIBE and more, see https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help PLEASE do read the posting guide http://www.R-project.org/posting-guide.html and provide commented, minimal, self-contained, reproducible code. ______________________________________________ R-help@r-project.org mailing list -- To UNSUBSCRIBE and more, see https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help PLEASE do read the posting guide http://www.R-project.org/posting-guide.html and provide commented, minimal, self-contained, reproducible code.