Figures
The instructions on this page pertain to figures included in the main article.
The more closely your figures adhere to these specifications at submission, the fewer times you will need to revise your manuscript to meet the requirements. Your accepted manuscript will therefore be more likely to publish faster and more accurately.
Figures as Supporting Information
Supporting Information is auxiliary to the main content of the article. Supporting Information figures are held to the requirements of all Supporting Information files. They have fewer requirements than figures that are included in the main article, and they need to be uploaded separately.
For full instructions, follow the Supporting Information guidelines.
Figure Preparation Checklist
- Read our figure policies.
- Read the figure file requirements for the full list of technical specifications, and ensure your figures comply.
- Read how to format and submit your figures and captions for peer review.
- Use the PACE tool before you submit to check that your figures comply with our specifications and to convert to our accepted formats. Watch this video for instructions about using PACE.
Figure File Requirements
The list below is an abbreviated summary of the figure specifications. Read the full details of the requirements in the corresponding sections on this page.
TIFF or EPS |
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Width: 789 – 2250 pixels (at 300 dpi). Height maximum: 2625 pixels (at 300 dpi). |
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300 – 600 dpi | |
<10 MB |
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Arial, Times, or Symbol font only in 8-12 point |
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Fig1.tif, Fig2.eps, and so on. Match file name to caption label and citation. |
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In the manuscript, not in the figure file. |
File Format |
TIFF or EPS only.
Should I choose TIFF or EPS? TIFF tends to be easier to work with than EPS. EPS often have missing/corrupted fonts, oversized masks, stray points, and boxes, which can result in errors and poor output.
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Dimensions |
Centimeters | Inches | Pixels at 300 dpi | |
Minimum width |
6.68 | 2.63 | 789 |
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Maximum width |
19.05 | 7.5 | 2250 | |
Height maximum At the height maximum, the figure occupies the whole page and excludes the caption |
22.23 | 8.75 | 2625 | |
“Dimensions” refers to the dimensions of the entire figure, excluding any white space. The closer figures match these dimensions, the closer they will meet expectations on publication. TIPS
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Resolution |
Submit figures at the desired dimensions with a resolution no greater than 300-600 dpi.
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File Size |
Submit files at a size of 10 MB or less. Reducing TIFF file size
Reducing EPS file size
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Text within Figures |
Use only Arial, Times, or Symbol font in 8-12 point. Do not include author names, article title, or figure number/title/caption within figure files. That information will go into your figure caption in the manuscript. Read more about submitting captions. Text within EPS figures Embed fonts, or convert them to outlines to prevent missing or improperly rendered text. In those files that are created in software like Matlab, open Illustrator or Inkscape and convert text to outlines. You will not be able to change your text after it has been converted to outlines. Instructions for Illustrator 1. Select all (Ctrl + A) Instructions for Inkscape 1. Select all (Ctrl + A) |
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Multi-panel Figures |
Place all panels from a multipart figure into a single page and file. If you have a multipart figure spanning multiple files:
To create a multipanel figure from individual files, use a presentation program such as OpenOffice Impress, Microsoft PowerPoint, or Keynote for Mac. Then convert to TIFF.
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Color Mode |
RGB (8 bit/channel) or grayscale only. |
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White Space |
A 2-point white space border around each figure is recommended to prevent inadvertent cropping of content at layout. Crop out excess white space from around image content. |
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Orientation |
Rotate and submit the figure in the orientation that you wish it to publish.
Figures will be inserted into the typeset article in the orientation in which they are supplied. For example, if a vertical image is submitted in a horizontal orientation, it will be set horizontally in the article.
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Additional Requirements for TIFF
Layers |
Flattened, with no layers. Figures with a single layer named “layer 1” or “layer 0” are in fact layered. |
Alpha Channels |
No alpha channels. |
Compression |
LZW compression is required. To apply:
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Pages |
We cannot publish TIFF figures that span multiple pages. To combine multiple figures onto a single page, see Multi-panel Figures. |
How to Submit Figures and Captions
Your figures contain three elements: figure files, captions, and in-text citations.
When naming your figures, match the figure file name and the caption label with the corresponding in-text citations in the manuscript. Example: a figure file named “Fig1.tif” should match the citation “Fig 1” and the figure label “Fig 1.” in the caption.
Please refer to our downloadable sample manuscript (PDF) to ensure that your figure captions, citations, and file names meet our formatting requirements.
Tools for Figure Preparation
Automated figure assessment
PLOS is providing a tool called PACE to help you review and prepare your figures for submission and to achieve high publication quality.
PACE will assess whether your figures meet most of our technical requirements. It can also convert figures to TIFF format and rename figures to meet our naming conventions. You should still review your figures after PACE assessment to ensure that they adhere to all of the figure requirements outlined on this page and that they are not blurry or difficult to read.
To use PACE, first register as a user. Follow the instructions on the site for assessing and converting your figure files.
Software
If you prefer to assemble figures with vector graphics, we recommend that you use Adobe Illustrator or Inkscape (free). These figures must be exported to EPS format per our requirements.
If you prefer to use raster graphics, the following free programs can both manipulate and export TIFF files:
LaTeX
PLOS does not accept vector EPS figures generated in LaTeX. Submit TIFF or EPS figures created in standard software. Read about other software options.
Converting LaTeX-generated EPS figures to TIFF
- Compile the LaTeX files into a PDF.
- Open the PDF in Photoshop, GIMP, or another graphics program that enables TIFF.
- Crop out the figure and export as TIFF.
Creating Source Images with Specialized Software
SigmaPlot
Creating a PLOS compatible graph
- First create your graph, and save it in SigmaPlot format.
- From the Tools menu select Options. In the dialogue box that appears, click on the Page tab. Set the Units to Millimeters (mm) and make sure the Graph Objects → Resize with Graph option is not ticked. Click OK.
- From the file menu select Page Setup. In the dialogue box that appears, click on the Margins tab. Set all the margins to 0.0 mm, then click Apply.
- Now click on the Page Size tab. Set the Width to 83.5 mm (or 173.5 mm if double column width) and the Height to 233.5 mm. Click OK.
- Set the font size of all text to 8 pt, and the width of all lines to 0.2 mm. (Consult the SigmaPlot Help files for more details, if needed.)
- Resize your graph to fit within and make full use of the page width available.
Saving an image in PDF format
This is the preferred output format when using SigmaPlot. To make sure your image is saved in a compatible format, perform the following steps.
- From the File menu in SigmaPlot, select Print. In the Print dialogue box that appears, select Adobe PDF as the printer. Click on Properties.
- Change the Default Settings pull-down to Press Quality. Uncheck the View Adobe PDF results box if you don't want Acrobat to launch.
- Click OK, then click OK. Pick where the PDF will be created, and click Save.
- Lastly, open the PDF in one of the following three programs to save the file in TIFF format: PACE, Photoshop, or GIMP.
The table below provides the export settings and instructions for authors that choose to create TIFF source images with the software indicated.
Maps
Please check usage rights. Many maps from SEDAC are under open access licensing. All USGS maps are in the public domain.
World of Maps and Open Street Map are websites where you may find maps in the public domain. PLOS neither endorses nor takes responsibility for the maps on these sites.
PLOS applies the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license to works we publish. Read about our licenses and copyright policy for figures.
Policies
All figures must meet PLOS requirements for depictions of humans and content licensing.
Depictions of humans
Authors submitting manuscripts that include identifying or potentially identifying information must comply with our requirements for informed consent.
Identifying information includes, but is not limited to:
- photographs
- radiographs
- pedigrees (family trees)
- geospatial maps that can identify a specific location such as a house.
Read our guidelines for documenting informed consent. If you require further information, please contact the journal before submitting.
Licenses and copyright
Figures, tables, and images are published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license.
Do not submit any figures, photos, tables, or other works that have been previously copyrighted or that contain proprietary data unless you have and can supply written permission from the copyright holder to use that content.
This includes:
- maps and satellite images
- slogans and logos
- social media content.
Image manipulation
Image files should not be manipulated or adjusted in any way that could lead to misinterpretation of the information present in the original image.
Inappropriate manipulation includes, but is not limited to:
- The introduction, enhancement, movement, or removal of specific feature(s) within an image
- Unmarked grouping of images that should otherwise have been presented separately (for example, from different parts of the same gel, or from different gels, fields, or exposures)
- Adjustments of brightness, contrast, or color balance that obscure, eliminate, or misrepresent any information
Digital images in manuscripts nearing acceptance for publication may be scrutinized for any indication of improper manipulation. If evidence is found of inappropriate manipulation, we reserve the right to ask for original data and, if that is not satisfactory, we may decide not to accept the manuscript and may also contact the authors’ institutions to ask them to assist with investigation.
Contact
If you still have questions about how to prepare your figures, please contact figures@plos.org for assistance.