How to export clean and high resolution images for figures

Dear community,

I have the figures in the format of ".fig", and when I export them in the form of ".eps", they appear a bit foggy, and their quality is not good enough to submit them for publication. What is the best option to obtain high-quality images for figures and graphs in Matlab? by using the option export as

Thanks

Answer 1

[Image Analyst]

There are several methods to save figures. Did you use the menu bar or pull down menu on the figure itself? I'm not sure what that uses. But you might try these options from a script or the command line.

1. exportgraphics
2. saveas
3. print

[Abdelkader Hd]

@Image Analyst

Thank for your time

Dear friend, I have alredy the figure in the format of '.fig' and I want to export them by using the menu on the figure itself with high quality..

[Image Analyst]

Then I can't help you if you insist on that way. You tried that and you got what you got. There does not seem to be options that control the quality in the Save As and Print pulldown menus like you get with calling it from code. You might try mazimizing the figure window before you save it so that it's as large as possible.

[Abdelkader Hd]

@Image Analyst

thank you dear

I am a beginner in using MATLAB, and I have at hand the figures in the format ".fig." I don't insist on using this option; I just want to save this type of figures in high quality with a small size ".eps". If there are any other methods, please let me know.

[Image Analyst]

help exportgraphics

  EXPORTGRAPHICS  Save plot or graphics content to file
    EXPORTGRAPHICS(OBJ, FILESPEC) saves the specified graphics to a file.
    OBJ is the handle of any type of an axes, a figure, a chart that can 
    be a child of the figure, a tiled chart layout, or a container within 
    the figure. FILESPEC is a character vector or string scalar specifying
    the name of a file to create. It must include the extension, and can
    optionally include a full or relative path. EXPORTGRAPHICS supports 
    creating JPEG, PNG, and TIFF images, and EPS, PDF, and EMF vector
    formats (EMF is only supported on Windows).
 
    EXPORTGRAPHICS(___, OPTIONS) saves the graphics to the file, applying  
    the specified OPTIONS. OPTIONS is one or more of the following 
    name-value pairs.
 
    'ContentType', CONTENTTYPE  how to generate content in vector format files
    CONTENTTYPE can be one of the following values
    - 'vector' to generate vectorized (scalable) output 
    - 'image'  to generate rasterized output (embed image) 
    - 'auto'   allow MATLAB heuristic to decide
    The default value is 'auto'
 
    'Resolution', DPI  specifies output resolution for images. DPI must be
    a positive whole number. The default value is 150
  
    'BackgroundColor', COLORSPEC  specifies the color to use as the background 
    COLORSPEC can be one of the following values
    - a color name, such as 'red', or 'w'
    - an RGB triplet, such as [1 0 0] or [1 1 1]
    - a hexadecimal color code, such as '#FFF' or '#FFFFFF')
    - 'none' to use either a white or transparent background, depending on 
       what the output format supports 
    - 'current' to use the graphic's current background color
    The default value is 'white'
  
    'Colorspace', COLORSPACE  the color space to use when generating output
    COLORSPACE can be one of the following values
    - 'rgb'  generates RGB true color output
    - 'gray' generates grayscale output
    - 'cmyk' generates cyan, magenta, yellow, black output
    The default value is 'rgb'
 
    'Append', APPEND  specifies whether to append the output to an existing file or replace the content.
    APPEND can have a value of true or false.
    - true appends the output to an existing file
    - false replaces the content in an existing file
    The default value is false
 
    Example: Export a plot to a pdf file 
       plot(rand(3)); 
       exportgraphics(gca, 'results.pdf'); 
 
    Example: Export a plot to a pdf file and ensure output is vectorized/scalable 
       plot(rand(3)); 
       exportgraphics(gca, 'results.pdf', 'ContentType', 'vector');
 
    Example: Export a plot as an image to a pdf file 
       plot(rand(3)); 
       exportgraphics(gca, 'results.pdf', 'ContentType', 'image');
 
    Example: Export a plot and append to an existing pdf file
       plot(rand(3)); 
       exportgraphics(gca, 'results.pdf', 'Append', true);
 
    Example: Export a specific plot from the figure
       fig = figure; 
       ax1 = subplot(2,1,1); bar(magic(4));
       ax2 = subplot(2,1,2); plot(rand(4));
       exportgraphics(ax2, 'results.png'); 
 
    Example: Export all plots from figure to an image file at 300DPI
       subplot(2,1,1); bar(magic(4));
       subplot(2,1,2); plot(rand(4));
       exportgraphics(gcf, 'results.png', 'Resolution', 300); 
 
    Example: Export a plot to an image file with a red background 
       plot(rand(3)); 
       exportgraphics(gca, 'results.png', 'BackgroundColor', [1 0 0]);
  
    Example: Export a plot to a grayscale image file  
       plot(rand(3)); 
       exportgraphics(gca, 'results.png', 'Colorspace', 'gray');
  
    See also COPYGRAPHICS, EXPORTAPP

    Documentation for exportgraphics
       doc exportgraphics

help saveas

 SAVEAS Save Figure or Simulink block diagram in desired output format
    SAVEAS(H,'FILENAME')
    Will save the Figure or Simulink block diagram with handle H to file 
    called FILENAME. 
    The format of the file is determined from the extension of FILENAME.
 
    SAVEAS(H,'FILENAME','FORMAT')
    Will save the Figure or Simulink block diagram  with handle H to file 
    called FILENAME in the format specified by FORMAT. FORMAT can be the 
    same values as extensions of FILENAME. 
    The FILENAME extension does not have to be the same as FORMAT.  
    The specified FORMAT overrides FILENAME extension.
 
    Valid options for FORMAT are:
 
    'fig'  - save figure to a single binary FIG-file.  Reload using OPEN. 
    'm'    - save figure to binary FIG-file, and produce callable
             MATLAB code file for reload.
    'mfig' - same as M.
    'mmat' - save figure to callable MATLAB code file as series of creation
             commands with param-value pair arguments.  Large data is saved
             to MAT-file.  
             Note: MMAT Does not support some newer graphics features. Use
                   this format only when code inspection is the primary goal.
                   FIG-files support all features, and load more quickly. 
 
    Additional FORMAT options include devices allowed by PRINT.
 
    NOTE: not all format options are allowed for Simulink block diagrams.
    See the online help for more information.
 
    Examples:
 
    Write current figure to MATLAB fig file
 
        saveas(gcf, 'output', 'fig')
 
    Write current figure to windows bitmap file
 
        saveas(gcf, 'output', 'bmp')
 
    Write block diagram named 'demo' to an Encapsulated Postscript file
 
        saveas(get_param('demo', 'Handle'), 'output', 'eps')
 
    In the following list, SAVE_SYSTEM is available for Simulink users only. 
    See also LOAD, SAVE, OPEN, PRINT, SAVE_SYSTEM, EXPORTGRAPHICS.

    Documentation for saveas
       doc saveas

help print

    PRINT Print or save a figure or model.
      A subset of the available options is presented below. For more details
      see the documentation.
 
      PRINT, by itself, prints the current figure to your default printer.
      Use the -s option to print the current model instead of the current figure.
        print         % print the current figure to the default printer
        print -s      % print the current model to the default printer
 
      PRINT(filename, formattype) saves the current figure to a file in the
      specified format. Vector graphics, such as PDF ('-dpdf'), and encapsulated
      PostScript ('-depsc'), as well as images such as JPEG ('-djpeg') and PNG ('-dpng')
      can be created. Use '-d' to specify the formattype option
        print(fig, '-dpdf', 'myfigure.pdf'); % save to the 'myfigure.pdf' file
      The full list of formats is documented here.
 
      PRINT(printer, ...) prints the figure or model to the specified printer.
      Use '-P' to specify the printer option.
        print(fig, '-Pmyprinter'); % print to the printer named 'myprinter'
 
      PRINT(resize,...) resizes the figure to fit the page when printing.
      The resize options are valid only for figures, and only for page
      formats (PDF, and PS) and printers. Specify resize as either
        '-bestfit'  to preserve the figure's aspect ratio or
        '-fillpage' to ignore the aspect ratio.
 
    The documentation contains additional details and examples, including how to
    specify the figure or model to print, adjust the output size and
    resolution, save to the clipboard, and specify the renderer to use.
 
    See also SAVEAS, PRINTPREVIEW, SAVEFIG, EXPORTGRAPHICS, COPYGRAPHICS.

    Documentation for print
       doc print

    Other uses of print

       arima/print
       matlab.automation.streams.OutputStream/print
       matlab.automation.streams.ToStandardOutput/print
       simscape.logging.Node/print

[Abdelkader Hd]

Thank you dear for your time