ggplot2 & gridExtra: Reduce space between plots, but keep ylab of one plot - r

Question

I would like to plot 3 graphics beside each other via the ggplot2 and gridExtra packages. The graphic on the left side has a ylab, the other 2 graphics do not. All three graphics should have the same size and the space between the graphics should be reduced as much as possible. However, due to the ylab of the graphic on the left side, I am either not able to reduce the space as much as I want; or I am cutting off the ylab.
Consider the following example in R:
library("ggplot2")
library("gridExtra")
# Example data
df <- data.frame(x = 1:10,
y = 1:10)
# Plots
ggp1 <- ggplot(df, aes(x, y)) +
geom_line() + theme_bw() +
ylab("Here is the ylab")
ggp2 <- ggplot(df, aes(x, y)) +
geom_line() + theme_bw() +
ylab("")
ggp3 <- ggplot(df, aes(x, y)) +
geom_line() + theme_bw() +
ylab("")
# Arrange grids
grid.arrange(ggp1, ggp2, ggp3, ncol = 3)
The space between the graphics should be reduced as much as possible.
All graphics should have the same size.
The ylab of the graphic on the left side should be kept.
I was trying to fix the problem with plot.margin, but unfortunately that didn't work.

Answer 1

I would suggest to cbind() the gtables, with the axis removed. null units automatically ensure equal panel widths.
lg <- lapply(list(ggp1,ggp2,ggp3),ggplotGrob)
rm_axis <- function(g){
lay <- g[["layout"]]
cp <- lay[lay$name == "panel",]
g[,-c(1:(cp$l-1))]
}
lg[-1] <- lapply(lg[-1], rm_axis)
grid::grid.draw(do.call(gtable_cbind, lg))

Answer 2

Adding theme (axis.title.y = element_blank()) to ggp2 and ggp3 will reduce the space between them.
library("ggplot2")
library("gridExtra")
# Example data
df <- data.frame(x = 1:10,
y = 1:10)
# Plots
ggp1 <- ggplot(df, aes(x, y)) +
geom_line() + theme_bw() +
ylab("Here is the ylab")
ggp2 <- ggplot(df, aes(x, y)) +
geom_line() + theme_bw() +
ylab("") + theme (axis.title.y = element_blank())
ggp3 <- ggplot(df, aes(x, y)) +
geom_line() + theme_bw() +
ylab("") + theme (axis.title.y = element_blank())
# Arrange grids
grid.arrange(ggp1, ggp2, ggp3, ncol = 3)