diff --git a/DESCRIPTION b/DESCRIPTION
index 7d809e4..a613ace 100644
--- a/DESCRIPTION
+++ b/DESCRIPTION
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 Package: taucharts
 Title: Create Interactive Charts with the JavaScript 'TauCharts' Library
-Version: 0.3.4.9000
+Version: 0.4.9000
 Authors@R: c(
     person("Bob", "Rudis", email = "bob@rudis.net", role = c("aut", "cre")),
     person("Kent", "Russell", email = "kent.russell@timelyportfolio.com", role = c("aut", "ctb")),
diff --git a/NAMESPACE b/NAMESPACE
index 5088d5b..9879192 100644
--- a/NAMESPACE
+++ b/NAMESPACE
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 
 export("%>%")
 export(JS)
+export(as_tauchart)
 export(renderTaucharts)
 export(run_tau_app)
 export(saveWidget)
diff --git a/R/as_tauchart.r b/R/as_tauchart.r
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b752083
--- /dev/null
+++ b/R/as_tauchart.r
@@ -0,0 +1,96 @@
+#' Turn a simple (single-geom) ggplot plot into an tauchart object
+#'
+#' Takes a ggplot object that has a single geom (it can be geom_line,
+#' geom_point or geom_histogram) and converts it to it's taucahrt counterpart.
+#' It will do it's best to identify plot labels, mapped size & color aesthetics,
+#' and x/y limits.\cr
+#' \cr
+#' If there are aesthetic mappings, \code{as_tauchart} will automaticlly add
+#' a legend.
+#'
+#' @note More aesthetic mappings are planned
+#' @param gg ggplot object
+#' @return tauchart object
+#' @export
+#' @examples
+#' dat <- data.frame(year=seq(1790, 1970, 10),
+#'                   uspop=as.numeric(usp
+#' set.seed(5689)
+#' data(movies, package="ggplot2")
+#' movies <- movies[sample(nrow(movies), 1000), ]
+#'
+#' gg <- ggplot(dat, aes(x=year, y=uspop)) + geom_line()
+#' as_tauchart(gg)
+#'
+#' gg <- ggplot(dat, aes(x=year, y=uspop)) + geom_point()
+#' as_tauchart(gg)
+#'
+#' gg <- ggplot(dplyr::count(movies, rating), aes(rating, n)) + geom_bar(stat="identity")
+#' as_tauchart(gg)
+#'
+#' gg <- ggplot(mtcars) + geom_point(aes(x=mpg, y=wt, color=cyl))
+#' as_tauchart(gg)
+#'
+#' gg <- ggplot(mtcars, aes(x=mpg, y=wt, color=am, size=wt)) + geom_point()
+#' as_tauchart(gg_m2)
+#'
+#' data(economics, package="ggplot2")
+#' gg <- ggplot(economics) + geom_line(aes(x=date, y=unemploy))
+#' as_tauchart(gg) %>% tau_guide_x(tick_format="%Y")
+as_tauchart <- function(gg) {
+
+  if (!inherits(gg, c("gg", "ggplot"))) {
+    stop("as_tauchart only works with ggplot objects", call.=FALSE)
+  }
+
+  gb <- ggplot_build(gg)
+
+  if (length(gb$plot$layers) > 1) {
+    stop("as_tauchart only works with single-layer-geoms", call.=FALSE)
+  }
+
+  plot_type <- gb$plot$layers[[1]]$geom$objname
+
+  x <- as.character(gb$plot$mapping$x %||% gb$plot$layers[[1]]$mapping$x %||% NULL)
+  y <- as.character(gb$plot$mapping$y %||% gb$plot$layers[[1]]$mapping$y %||% NULL)
+  color <- gb$plot$mapping$colour %||% gb$plot$layers[[1]]$mapping$colour %||% NULL
+  size <- gb$plot$mapping$size %||% gb$plot$layers[[1]]$mapping$size %||% NULL
+
+  color <- grep("factor", as.character(color), value=TRUE, invert=TRUE) %||% NULL
+  size <- grep("factor", as.character(size), value=TRUE, invert=TRUE) %||% NULL
+
+  r_x <- gb$panel$ranges[[1]]$x.range
+  r_y <- gb$panel$ranges[[1]]$y.range
+
+  data <- gb$plot$data
+
+  tc <- NULL
+
+  if (plot_type=="line") {
+    tau_guide_y(
+      tau_guide_x(
+        tau_line(tauchart(data), x=x, y=y, color=color, size=size),
+        auto_scale=FALSE, label=gb$plot$labels$x, min=r_x[1], max=r_x[2]),
+      auto_scale=FALSE, label=gb$plot$labels$y, min=r_y[1], max=r_y[2]) -> tc
+  } else if (plot_type=="point") {
+    tau_guide_y(
+      tau_guide_x(
+        tau_point(tauchart(data), x=x, y=y, color=color, size=size),
+        auto_scale=FALSE, label=gb$plot$labels$x, min=r_x[1], max=r_x[2]),
+      auto_scale=FALSE, label=gb$plot$labels$y, min=r_y[1], max=r_y[2]) -> tc
+  } else if (plot_type=="bar") {
+    tau_guide_y(
+      tau_guide_x(
+        tau_bar(tauchart(data), x=x, y=y, color=color, size=size),
+        auto_scale=FALSE, label=gb$plot$labels$x, min=r_x[1], max=r_x[2]),
+      auto_scale=FALSE, label=gb$plot$labels$y, min=r_y[1], max=r_y[2]) -> tc
+  } else {
+    stop("as_tauchart only works with geom_line, geom_point and geom_histogram", call.=FALSE)
+  }
+
+  if (!is.null(color) | !is.null(size)) tc <- tau_legend(tc)
+
+  tc
+
+}
+
diff --git a/R/guides.r b/R/guides.r
index 6ed1685..ae5eba8 100644
--- a/R/guides.r
+++ b/R/guides.r
@@ -55,9 +55,11 @@ tau_guide_gridlines <- function(tau, show_x=TRUE, show_y=TRUE) {
 #'  tau_guide_y(label="Weight", auto_scale=FALSE)
 tau_guide_x <- function(tau, padding=NULL,
                         label=NULL, label_padding=NULL,
-                        auto_scale=TRUE, tick_period=NULL, tick_format=NULL,
-                        min = NULL, max = NULL ) {
-  tau$x$guide$x$autoScale <- auto_scale
+                        auto_scale=NULL, tick_period=NULL, tick_format=NULL,
+                        min=NULL, max=NULL ) {
+
+  tau$x$guide$x$autoScale <- auto_scale %^^% tau[["x"]][["guide"]][["x"]][["autoScale"]] %^^% TRUE
+
   if (!is.null(label_padding)) tau$x$guide$x$label <- list(padding=label_padding)
   if (!is.null(label)) tau$x$guide$x$label$text <- label
   if (!is.null(tick_format)) tau$x$guide$x$tickFormat <- tick_format
@@ -65,6 +67,7 @@ tau_guide_x <- function(tau, padding=NULL,
   if (!is.null(padding)) tau$x$guide$x$padding <- padding
   if (!is.null(min)) tau$x$guide$x$min <- min
   if (!is.null(max)) tau$x$guide$x$max <- max
+
   tau
 }
 
@@ -92,9 +95,11 @@ tau_guide_x <- function(tau, padding=NULL,
 #'  tau_guide_y(label="Weight", auto_scale=FALSE)
 tau_guide_y <- function(tau, padding=NULL,
                         label=NULL, label_padding=NULL,
-                        auto_scale=TRUE, tick_period=NULL, tick_format=NULL,
+                        auto_scale=NULL, tick_period=NULL, tick_format=NULL,
                         min=NULL, max=NULL) {
-  tau$x$guide$y$autoScale <- auto_scale
+
+  tau$x$guide$x$autoScale <- auto_scale %^^% tau[["x"]][["guide"]][["y"]][["autoScale"]] %^^% TRUE
+
   if (!is.null(label_padding)) tau$x$guide$y$label <- list(padding=label_padding)
   if (!is.null(label)) tau$x$guide$y$label$text <- label
   if (!is.null(tick_period)) tau$x$guide$y$tickPeriod <- tick_period
@@ -102,5 +107,6 @@ tau_guide_y <- function(tau, padding=NULL,
   if (!is.null(padding)) tau$x$guide$y$padding <- padding
   if (!is.null(min)) tau$x$guide$y$min <- min
   if (!is.null(max)) tau$x$guide$y$max <- max
+
   tau
 }
diff --git a/R/utils.r b/R/utils.r
index 96d1288..115af9a 100644
--- a/R/utils.r
+++ b/R/utils.r
@@ -1,3 +1,19 @@
+noathenb <- function(a, b) {
+  if (length(a) > 0) a else b
+}
+
+"%||%" <- noathenb
+
+naathenb <- function(a, b) {
+  if (length(a) > 0) {
+    if (!is.na(a)) a else b
+  } else {
+    b
+  }
+}
+
+"%^^%" <- naathenb
+
 brewers <- c("BrBG", "PiYG", "PRGn", "PuOr", "RdBu", "RdGy", "RdYlBu", "RdYlGn",
 "Spectral", "Accent", "Dark2", "Paired", "Pastel1", "Pastel2",
 "Set1", "Set2", "Set3", "Blues", "BuGn", "BuPu", "GnBu", "Greens",
diff --git a/README.Rmd b/README.Rmd
index 039fade..7de5750 100644
--- a/README.Rmd
+++ b/README.Rmd
@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@ The following functions are implemented:
 - `tau_tasks`:  Add post-render JavaScript tasks to taucharts
 - `tau_add_css_rule`: Add a CSS rule to the rendered htmlwidget
 - `tau_set_font`: Set `font-family` for the chart
+- `as_tauchart`:  Turn a simple (single-geom) ggplot plot into an tauchart object
 
 with many color palette options:
 
@@ -65,6 +66,7 @@ The following datasets are included:
 
 ### News
 
+- Version 0.4.0.9000 released : added `as_tauchart` & updated TauCharts JS lib
 - Version 0.3.4.9000 released : added warning for global targeted CSS rules and font ref fix thx to @jlewis91 
 - Version 0.3.3.9001 released : fix for custom colors and `tau_line`
 - Version 0.3.3 released : custom font for chart (`?tau_set_font`)
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 7f4dce4..6773360 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ The following functions are implemented:
 -   `tau_tasks`: Add post-render JavaScript tasks to taucharts
 -   `tau_add_css_rule`: Add a CSS rule to the rendered htmlwidget
 -   `tau_set_font`: Set `font-family` for the chart
+-   `as_tauchart`: Turn a simple (single-geom) ggplot plot into an tauchart object
 
 with many color palette options:
 
@@ -50,6 +51,7 @@ The following datasets are included:
 
 ### News
 
+-   Version 0.4.0.9000 released : added `as_tauchart` & updated TauCharts JS lib
 -   Version 0.3.4.9000 released : added warning for global targeted CSS rules and font ref fix thx to @jlewis91
 -   Version 0.3.3.9001 released : fix for custom colors and `tau_line`
 -   Version 0.3.3 released : custom font for chart (`?tau_set_font`)
@@ -78,7 +80,7 @@ library(taucharts)
 
 # current verison
 packageVersion("taucharts")
-#> [1] '0.3.4.9000'
+#> [1] '0.4.9000'
 ```
 
 ### Test Results
@@ -88,7 +90,7 @@ library(taucharts)
 library(testthat)
 
 date()
-#> [1] "Wed Aug 12 16:37:18 2015"
+#> [1] "Thu Aug 13 06:56:26 2015"
 
 test_dir("tests/")
 #> testthat results ========================================================================================================
diff --git a/man/as_tauchart.Rd b/man/as_tauchart.Rd
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ae14831
--- /dev/null
+++ b/man/as_tauchart.Rd
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+% Generated by roxygen2 (4.1.1): do not edit by hand
+% Please edit documentation in R/as_tauchart.r
+\name{as_tauchart}
+\alias{as_tauchart}
+\title{Turn a simple (single-geom) ggplot plot into an tauchart object}
+\usage{
+as_tauchart(gg)
+}
+\arguments{
+\item{gg}{ggplot object}
+}
+\value{
+tauchart object
+}
+\description{
+Takes a ggplot object that has a single geom (it can be geom_line,
+geom_point or geom_histogram) and converts it to it's taucahrt counterpart.
+It will do it's best to identify plot labels, mapped size & color aesthetics,
+and x/y limits.\cr
+\cr
+If there are aesthetic mappings, \code{as_tauchart} will automaticlly add
+a legend.
+}
+\note{
+More aesthetic mappings are planned
+}
+\examples{
+dat <- data.frame(year=seq(1790, 1970, 10),
+                  uspop=as.numeric(usp
+set.seed(5689)
+data(movies, package="ggplot2")
+movies <- movies[sample(nrow(movies), 1000), ]
+
+gg <- ggplot(dat, aes(x=year, y=uspop)) + geom_line()
+as_tauchart(gg)
+
+gg <- ggplot(dat, aes(x=year, y=uspop)) + geom_point()
+as_tauchart(gg)
+
+gg <- ggplot(dplyr::count(movies, rating), aes(rating, n)) + geom_bar(stat="identity")
+as_tauchart(gg)
+
+gg <- ggplot(mtcars) + geom_point(aes(x=mpg, y=wt, color=cyl))
+as_tauchart(gg)
+
+gg <- ggplot(mtcars, aes(x=mpg, y=wt, color=am, size=wt)) + geom_point()
+as_tauchart(gg_m2)
+
+data(economics, package="ggplot2")
+gg <- ggplot(economics) + geom_line(aes(x=date, y=unemploy))
+as_tauchart(gg) \%>\% tau_guide_x(tick_format="\%Y")
+}
+
diff --git a/man/tau_guide_x.Rd b/man/tau_guide_x.Rd
index 8747768..c3d585b 100644
--- a/man/tau_guide_x.Rd
+++ b/man/tau_guide_x.Rd
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 \title{Control x-axis padding, label, scale & tick format}
 \usage{
 tau_guide_x(tau, padding = NULL, label = NULL, label_padding = NULL,
-  auto_scale = TRUE, tick_period = NULL, tick_format = NULL, min = NULL,
+  auto_scale = NULL, tick_period = NULL, tick_format = NULL, min = NULL,
   max = NULL)
 }
 \arguments{
diff --git a/man/tau_guide_y.Rd b/man/tau_guide_y.Rd
index 8f3235a..c091338 100644
--- a/man/tau_guide_y.Rd
+++ b/man/tau_guide_y.Rd
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 \title{Control y-axis padding, label, scale & tick format}
 \usage{
 tau_guide_y(tau, padding = NULL, label = NULL, label_padding = NULL,
-  auto_scale = TRUE, tick_period = NULL, tick_format = NULL, min = NULL,
+  auto_scale = NULL, tick_period = NULL, tick_format = NULL, min = NULL,
   max = NULL)
 }
 \arguments{