Five tips for preparing figures

Almost all manuscripts submitted to Libertas Academica open access journals have figures of some kind associated with them. Figures are an invaluable component of an article. They make articles visually appealing but more importantly allow the authors to illustrate points which might otherwise remain obscure. Open access journals should not impose limitations on the quantity of figures used and generally do not charge additional fees for publication of colour figures.

The drawback of providing figures is the technical difficulties of creating and presenting them. What follows are some steps I recommend taking when putting together figures for a submission.

1. Use a non-compressed file format. TIFF is ideal. Compressed file formats can result in blurring and pixellation. Counter-intuitive as it may seem, TIFF files also have a DPI associated with them, which is a very useful way of making sure that they meet resolution criteria.
   
   
2. Provide, or be able to provide, high resolution figures. High resolution images are essential for typesetting. Either provide them when you initially submit your manuscript or when it is accepted for publication. If you provide them at the initial stage I suggest providing smaller versions of each file which are easily downloaded by peer reviewers. What constitutes high resolution? I recommend 900 DPI at 1 or 1.5 times anticipated display size.
   
   
3. One figure per file. Don't place all your figures in a single file.
   
   
4. No blurring or pixellation. When viewing each figure at 1 or 1.5 times anticipated display size look for excessive blurring and pixellation. Look particularly at text, which must be legible, and lines, which must be sharp and clear. If you detect problems increase the resolution.
   
   
5. Have access to good image management software. Irfanview is excellent and Microsoft Office Picture Manager is also useful and comes with most Office installations. I also believe iPhoto on OSX and GIMP on Linux (and other platforms) to be suitable, although I haven't used either sufficiently for this purpose to be certain. All of these allow you to measure DPI and display size.

So in summary:

• It's best to use a non-compressed file format.
• Figures should be high resolution. Provide easily-downloadable half-size versions for peer reviewers.
• Each figure should be in a separate file.
• Look carefully for blurring and pixellation and where present increase resolution to compensate.
• Good image management software makes these objectives easy to accomplish.

[Amended 14/10: summary added.]