diff --git a/DESCRIPTION b/DESCRIPTION
index e5df44a..0759f02 100644
--- a/DESCRIPTION
+++ b/DESCRIPTION
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 Package: cowplot
 Title: Streamlined Plot Theme and Plot Annotations for 'ggplot2'
-Version: 1.1.2
+Version: 1.1.2.9001
 Authors@R:
     person(
       given = "Claus O.",
@@ -72,6 +72,6 @@ Collate:
     'stamp.R'
     'themes.R'
     'utils_ggplot2.R'
-RoxygenNote: 7.1.1
+RoxygenNote: 7.2.3
 Roxygen: list(markdown = TRUE)
 Encoding: UTF-8
diff --git a/R/align_plots.R b/R/align_plots.R
index d53cd2c..e203221 100644
--- a/R/align_plots.R
+++ b/R/align_plots.R
@@ -160,6 +160,8 @@ align_margin <- function(sizes, margin_to_align, greedy = TRUE) {
 #' @param greedy (optional) Defines the alignment policy when alignment axes are specified via the
 #'  `axis` option. `greedy = TRUE` tries to always align by adjusting the outmost margin. `greedy = FALSE`
 #'  aligns all columns/rows in the gtable if possible.
+#' @param align_axis (optional) If set to TRUE, the axis are aligned and adjusted by their values.
+#' 
 #' @examples
 #' library(ggplot2)
 #'
@@ -179,15 +181,14 @@ align_margin <- function(sizes, margin_to_align, greedy = TRUE) {
 #' @export
 align_plots <- function(..., plotlist = NULL, align = c("none", "h", "v", "hv"),
                         axis = c("none", "l", "r", "t", "b", "lr", "tb", "tblr"),
-                        greedy = TRUE){
-  # browser()
+                        greedy = TRUE, align_axis = FALSE) {
   plots <- c(list(...), plotlist)
   num_plots <- length(plots)
 
   # convert list of plots into list of grobs / gtables
   grobs <- lapply(plots, function(x) {if (!is.null(x)) as_gtable(x) else NULL})
 
-  #aligning graphs.
+  # aligning graphs.
   halign <- switch(
     align[1],
     h = TRUE,
@@ -207,13 +208,31 @@ align_plots <- function(..., plotlist = NULL, align = c("none", "h", "v", "hv"),
   # calculate the maximum widths and heights over all graphs, and find out whether
   # they can be aligned if necessary
   if (valign) {
+    
+    if (align_axis) {
+      # modification: get x-axis value range associated with each plot, create union of
+      # value ranges across all plots, & calculate the proportional width of each plot
+      # (with white space on either side) required in order for the plots to align
+      plot_x_range <- lapply(plots, function(x) {
+        ggplot_build(x)$layout$panel_params[[1]]$x.range
+      })
+      full_range <- range(plot_x_range)
+      plot_x_range <- lapply(plot_x_range, function(x) {
+        c(
+          diff(c(full_range[1], x[1])) / diff(full_range),
+          diff(x) / diff(full_range),
+          diff(c(x[2], full_range[2])) / diff(full_range)
+        )
+      })
+    }
+
     num_widths <- unique(lapply(grobs, function(x) {length(x$widths)})) # count number of unique lengths
     num_widths[num_widths == 0] <- NULL # remove entry for missing graphs
     if (length(num_widths) > 1 || length(grep("l|r", axis[1])) > 0) {
       # Complex aligns are ones that don't have the same number of elements that have sizes
       # or for which explicit axis alignment is requested
       vcomplex_align = TRUE
-      if(axis[1] == "none") {
+      if (axis[1] == "none") {
         warning(
           "Graphs cannot be vertically aligned unless the axis parameter is set. Placing graphs unaligned.",
           call. = FALSE
@@ -231,18 +250,36 @@ align_plots <- function(..., plotlist = NULL, align = c("none", "h", "v", "hv"),
         max_widths <- align_margin(max_widths, "last", greedy = greedy)
       }
     } else {
-      max_widths <- list(do.call(grid::unit.pmax, lapply(grobs, function(x){x$widths})))
+      max_widths <- list(do.call(grid::unit.pmax, lapply(grobs, function(x) {x$widths})))
     }
   }
 
   if (halign) {
+
+    if (align_axis) {
+      # modification: get y-axis value range associated with each plot, create union of
+      # value ranges across all plots, & calculate the proportional width of each plot
+      # (with white space on either side) required in order for the plots to align
+      plot_y_range <- lapply(plots, function(x) {
+        ggplot_build(x)$layout$panel_params[[1]]$y.range
+      })
+      full_range <- range(plot_y_range)
+      plot_y_range <- lapply(plot_y_range, function(x) {
+        c(
+          diff(c(full_range[1], x[1])) / diff(full_range),
+               diff(x) / diff(full_range),
+               diff(c(x[2], full_range[2])) / diff(full_range)
+        )
+      })
+    }
+
     num_heights <- unique(lapply(grobs, function(x) {length(x$heights)})) # count number of unique lengths
     num_heights[num_heights == 0] <- NULL # remove entry for missing graphs
     if (length(num_heights) > 1 || length(grep("t|b", axis[1])) > 0) {
       # Complex aligns are ones that don't have the same number of elements that have sizes
       # or for which explicit axis alignment is requested
       hcomplex_align = TRUE
-      if (axis[1] == "none"){
+      if (axis[1] == "none") {
         warning(
           "Graphs cannot be horizontally aligned unless the axis parameter is set. Placing graphs unaligned.",
           call. = FALSE
@@ -260,7 +297,7 @@ align_plots <- function(..., plotlist = NULL, align = c("none", "h", "v", "hv"),
       }
 
     } else {
-      max_heights <- list(do.call(grid::unit.pmax, lapply(grobs, function(x){x$heights})))
+      max_heights <- list(do.call(grid::unit.pmax, lapply(grobs, function(x) {x$heights})))
     }
   }
 
@@ -268,18 +305,48 @@ align_plots <- function(..., plotlist = NULL, align = c("none", "h", "v", "hv"),
   for (i in 1:num_plots) {
     if (!is.null(grobs[[i]])) {
       if (valign) {
-        if(vcomplex_align) {
+        if (vcomplex_align) {
           grobs[[i]]$widths <- max_widths[[i]]
         } else{
           grobs[[i]]$widths <- max_widths[[1]]
         }
+        if (align_axis) {
+          # modification: change panel cell's width to a proportion of unit(1, "null"),
+          # then add whitespace to the left / right of the plot's existing gtable
+          grobs[[i]]$widths[[5]] <- unit(plot_x_range[[i]][2], "null")
+          grobs[[i]] <- gtable::gtable_add_cols(
+            grobs[[i]], 
+            widths = unit(plot_x_range[[i]][1], "null"), 
+            pos = 0
+          )
+          grobs[[i]] <- gtable::gtable_add_cols(
+            grobs[[i]], 
+            widths = unit(plot_x_range[[i]][3], "null"), 
+            pos = -1
+          )
+        }
       }
       if (halign) {
-        if(hcomplex_align){
+        if (hcomplex_align) {
           grobs[[i]]$heights <- max_heights[[i]]
         } else{
           grobs[[i]]$heights <- max_heights[[1]]
         }
+        if (align_axis) {
+          # modification: change panel cell's height to a proportion of unit(1, "null"),
+          # then add whitespace to the bottom / top of the plot's existing gtable
+          grobs[[i]]$heights[[7]] <- unit(plot_y_range[[i]][2], "null")
+          grobs[[i]] <- gtable::gtable_add_rows(
+            grobs[[i]], 
+            heights = unit(plot_y_range[[i]][1], "null"), 
+            pos = -1
+          )
+          grobs[[i]] <- gtable::gtable_add_rows(
+            grobs[[i]], 
+            heights = unit(plot_y_range[[i]][3], "null"), 
+            pos = 0
+          )
+        }
       }
     }
   }
diff --git a/R/plot_grid.R b/R/plot_grid.R
index 2501762..e9d0b18 100644
--- a/R/plot_grid.R
+++ b/R/plot_grid.R
@@ -40,6 +40,8 @@
 #' @param byrow Logical value indicating if the plots should be arrange by row (default) or by column.
 #' @param rows Deprecated. Use \code{nrow}.
 #' @param cols Deprecated. Use \code{ncol}.
+#' @param align_axis (optional) If set to TRUE, the axis are aligned and adjusted by their values.
+#'
 #' @examples
 #' library(ggplot2)
 #'
@@ -86,6 +88,20 @@
 #'   align = "h", axis = "b", nrow = 1, rel_widths = c(1, 2)
 #' )
 #'
+#' # aligning two plots by their x axis values
+#' p1 <- ggplot(mtcars, aes(x = disp, y = mpg)) +
+#'   geom_point()
+#' p2 <- ggplot(mtcars[mtcars$disp > 300, ], aes(x = disp, y = mpg)) +
+#'   geom_point()
+#' 
+#' plot_grid(p1, p2, ncol = 1, align = "v",  align_axis = TRUE)
+#' 
+#' # align horizontally
+#' p3 <- ggplot(mtcars[mtcars$mpg > 20, ], aes(x = disp, y = mpg)) +
+#'   geom_point()
+#' 
+#' plot_grid(p1, p3, nrow = 1, align = "h",  align_axis = TRUE)
+#'
 #' # more examples
 #' \donttest{
 #' #' # missing plots in some grid locations, auto-generate lower-case labels
@@ -139,7 +155,7 @@ plot_grid <- function(..., plotlist = NULL, align = c("none", "h", "v", "hv"),
                       label_fontfamily = NULL, label_fontface = "bold", label_colour = NULL,
                       label_x = 0, label_y = 1,
                       hjust = -0.5, vjust = 1.5, scale = 1., greedy = TRUE,
-                      byrow = TRUE, cols = NULL, rows = NULL) {
+                      byrow = TRUE, cols = NULL, rows = NULL, align_axis = FALSE) {
 
   # Make a list from the ... arguments and plotlist
   plots <- c(list(...), plotlist)
@@ -181,7 +197,8 @@ plot_grid <- function(..., plotlist = NULL, align = c("none", "h", "v", "hv"),
   if (!isTRUE(byrow)) plots <- plots[c(t(matrix(c(1:num_plots, rep(NA, (rows * cols) - num_plots)), nrow = rows, byrow = FALSE)))]
 
   # Align the plots (if specified)
-  grobs <- align_plots(plotlist = plots, align = align, axis = axis, greedy = greedy)
+  grobs <- align_plots(plotlist = plots, align = align, axis = axis,
+                       greedy = greedy, align_axis = align_axis)
 
   if ("AUTO" %in% labels)
     labels <- LETTERS[1:num_plots]
diff --git a/man/align_plots.Rd b/man/align_plots.Rd
index 095c6d2..aa81523 100644
--- a/man/align_plots.Rd
+++ b/man/align_plots.Rd
@@ -9,7 +9,8 @@ align_plots(
   plotlist = NULL,
   align = c("none", "h", "v", "hv"),
   axis = c("none", "l", "r", "t", "b", "lr", "tb", "tblr"),
-  greedy = TRUE
+  greedy = TRUE,
+  align_axis = FALSE
 )
 }
 \arguments{
@@ -28,6 +29,8 @@ margins. Options are \code{axis="none"} (default), or a string of any combinatio
 \item{greedy}{(optional) Defines the alignment policy when alignment axes are specified via the
 \code{axis} option. \code{greedy = TRUE} tries to always align by adjusting the outmost margin. \code{greedy = FALSE}
 aligns all columns/rows in the gtable if possible.}
+
+\item{align_axis}{(optional) If set to TRUE, the axis are aligned and adjusted by their values.}
 }
 \description{
 Align the plot area of multiple plots. Inputs are a list of plots plus alignment parameters.
diff --git a/man/plot_grid.Rd b/man/plot_grid.Rd
index cc2c5c9..0aa4e1d 100644
--- a/man/plot_grid.Rd
+++ b/man/plot_grid.Rd
@@ -26,7 +26,8 @@ plot_grid(
   greedy = TRUE,
   byrow = TRUE,
   cols = NULL,
-  rows = NULL
+  rows = NULL,
+  align_axis = FALSE
 )
 }
 \arguments{
@@ -90,6 +91,8 @@ sometimes be more powerful.}
 \item{cols}{Deprecated. Use \code{ncol}.}
 
 \item{rows}{Deprecated. Use \code{nrow}.}
+
+\item{align_axis}{(optional) If set to TRUE, the axis are aligned and adjusted by their values.}
 }
 \description{
 Arrange multiple plots into a grid.
@@ -140,6 +143,20 @@ plot_grid(
   align = "h", axis = "b", nrow = 1, rel_widths = c(1, 2)
 )
 
+# aligning two plots by their x axis values
+p1 <- ggplot(mtcars, aes(x = disp, y = mpg)) +
+  geom_point()
+p2 <- ggplot(mtcars[mtcars$disp > 300, ], aes(x = disp, y = mpg)) +
+  geom_point()
+
+plot_grid(p1, p2, ncol = 1, align = "v",  align_axis = TRUE)
+
+# align horizontally
+p3 <- ggplot(mtcars[mtcars$mpg > 20, ], aes(x = disp, y = mpg)) +
+  geom_point()
+
+plot_grid(p1, p3, nrow = 1, align = "h",  align_axis = TRUE)
+
 # more examples
 \donttest{
 #' # missing plots in some grid locations, auto-generate lower-case labels
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test_align_plots.R b/tests/testthat/test_align_plots.R
index a4aab65..4e1c678 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test_align_plots.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test_align_plots.R
@@ -141,3 +141,26 @@ test_that("complex alignments with non-plots", {
 
   dev.off()
 })
+
+
+test_that("align by axis", {
+  p1 <- ggplot(mtcars, aes(x = disp, y = mpg)) +
+    geom_point()
+  p2 <- ggplot(mtcars[mtcars$disp > 300, ], aes(x = disp, y = mpg)) +
+    geom_point()
+  p3 <- ggplot(mtcars[mtcars$mpg > 20, ], aes(x = disp, y = mpg)) +
+    geom_point()
+
+  plots <- align_plots(p1, p2, align = "v", align_axis = TRUE)
+  # vertical alignment -> same height
+  expect_equal(capture.output(plots[[1]]$heights),
+               capture.output(plots[[2]]$heights))
+  # note there is a string difference in some subpart of plot$heights,
+  # not sure why or how to access it;
+  # comparing what is printed in units is probably better than nothing...
+
+  plots <- align_plots(p1, p3, align = "v", align_axis = TRUE)
+  # horizontal alignment -> same width
+  expect_equal(capture.output(plots[[1]]$widths),
+               capture.output(plots[[2]]$widths))
+})
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test_plot_grid.R b/tests/testthat/test_plot_grid.R
index 18d5546..5196322 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test_plot_grid.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test_plot_grid.R
@@ -98,3 +98,22 @@ test_that("alignment", {
     plot_grid(p1, p2, ncol = 1, align = 'v', axis = "rl") + theme_map()
   )
 })
+
+
+test_that("align by axis", {
+  p1 <- ggplot(mtcars, aes(x = disp, y = mpg)) +
+    geom_point()
+  p2 <- ggplot(mtcars[mtcars$disp > 300, ], aes(x = disp, y = mpg)) +
+    geom_point()
+
+  expect_doppelganger("aligning by x-axis values",
+    plot_grid(p1, p2, ncol = 1, align = "v",  align_axis = TRUE)
+  )
+
+  p3 <- ggplot(mtcars[mtcars$mpg > 20, ], aes(x = disp, y = mpg)) +
+    geom_point()
+
+  expect_doppelganger("aligning by y-axis values",
+    plot_grid(p1, p3, nrow = 1, align = "h",  align_axis = TRUE)
+  )
+})