August 20, 2025

How to format final figures for publication

General figure guidelines

File types and file sizes
  • TIFF images with LZW compression to reduce the file size
  • PDF files for vector images
  • Not PowerPoint or Word
  • Max 10 MB file size for each full figure (including all subparts)
  • Usually I output to .png from R code, create the multi-part figure with Inkscape (free but slow) or Adobe Illustrator (fast but requires license), output as high resolution .png, then use Irfanview (free) to crop out white space and convert to .tiff image.

Resolution
  • 300 dpi for microscopy images, gel images, and camera photos
  • 600 dpi for plots, graphs, and computer-made images with color
  • 1200 dpi for figures that are entirely text and lines
  • Resolution is measured at the final size


Figure size - one column (half page width)
  • Width max (one column): 83 mm; 85 mm (BOSD); 90 mm (Placenta)
  • Width max (two column): 170 mm; 180 mm (IF); 190 mm (Placenta)
  • Height max: 225 mm (BOSD), 235 mm (BOR), 240 mm (Placenta)
  • Height max includes figure and caption together

Font
  • 8 pt minimum preferred
  • 4-6 pt sometimes acceptable (depends on journal)
  • Keep font sizes consistent within the figure parts (e.g. Figure 1A, 1B, 1C) and between figures.
  • Use standard Sans Serif fonts like Arial, Helvetica, Calibri. Some journals also accept Times New Roman.

Formatting
  • Avoid patterned fills in barplots (solid colors only)
  • 0.25 pt line widths at full size


Figure guidelines for specific journals

Search the journal name and "figure guidelines" and "size" and "dpi" to find information about figure size limits, figure resolutions and file types accepted, etc. For example, here are some journal figure guidelines:



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How to format final figures for publication

General figure guidelines File types and file sizes TIFF images with LZW compression to reduce the file size PDF files for vector images Not...