export() doesn't work properly with choropleth maps

[salim-b]

If I try to export any choropleth map using plotly's export() function, the map itself is missing in the resulting PNG file. For example feeding the map produced by the following code from plotl.ly

library(plotly)
df <- read.csv("https://raw.githubusercontent.com/plotly/datasets/master/2011_us_ag_exports.csv")
df$hover <- with(df, paste(state, '<br>', "Beef", beef, "Dairy", dairy, "<br>",
                           "Fruits", total.fruits, "Veggies", total.veggies,
                           "<br>", "Wheat", wheat, "Corn", corn))
# give state boundaries a white border
l <- list(color = toRGB("white"), width = 2)
# specify some map projection/options
g <- list(
  scope = 'usa',
  projection = list(type = 'albers usa'),
  showlakes = TRUE,
  lakecolor = toRGB('white')
)

p <- plot_geo(df, locationmode = 'USA-states') %>%
  add_trace(
    z = ~total.exports, text = ~hover, locations = ~code,
    color = ~total.exports, colors = 'Purples'
  ) %>%
  colorbar(title = "Millions USD") %>%
  layout(
    title = '2011 US Agriculture Exports by State<br>(Hover for breakdown)',
    geo = g
  )

to the export() function produces this raster image:

I don't know if this problem is related to the current need of an internet connection to produce maps (I mean somewhere internally; of course I have an active internet connection when exporting the map). At least with scatter and bar plots the export works as supposed.

I'm using plotly 4.5.6 with R 3.3.2 on Ubuntu Linux 16.04 LTS.

[cpsievert]

It appears that giving it some time to load the external resources fixes the problem. To do so, use the delay argument (from webshot())

export(p, delay = 2)

[salim-b]

It appears that giving it some time to load the external resources fixes the problem. To do so, use the delay argument (from webshot())

Thanks for the hint, this works indeed! I guess it would make sense to have this mentioned in the corresponding tutorial.