Preparation of figures for a journal with online and print editions

These are instructions to authors from the journal Molecular Ecology Resources (Managing editor, pers. comm., 23rd March 2013). The instructions might be useful for preparing figures for any journal. Too often, authors ignore what the final figure will look like when it is displayed on a small screen, or in a printed format.

R is unfamiliar to me. Is it easy to use? Adobe is more familiar. I have used it to label maps that I drew by hand and then scanned.

Peter

***
"Almost all figures submitted for publication should be vector graphics - these are clear at all magnifications and look good both in print and online.

Graphs should always be saved directly as .eps or .pdf files from a professional graphics program (e.g. R) and never as .jpg or .tif or any other pixel-based format.

Maps should be made using vector graphics in e.g. Adobe Illustrator. The output of scientific software programs should also be saved directly as vector graphics whenever possible. Photographic images can be in a pixel-based format, but please ensure that these are saved as .tif files with at least 300 dpi, or (failing that) a .jpg with no compression.

Failure to follow these guidelines may result in your paper having blurred, illegible or otherwise low-quality figures.

Please also ensure that figures are prepared such that, after reduction to fit across one column, two-thirds page width, or two columns (80 mm, 112 mm, or 169 mm, respectively) as required, all lettering and symbols will be clear and easy to read, i.e. no axes labels should be too large or too small.

If you are unsure about the resolution of your figures, please zoom in and check that fonts, curves and diagonal lines are smooth-edged and do not appear blocky when viewed at high magnification (>400%). Note that figures supplied in bitmapped formats are downsampled for online publication, while the full resolution files are used for print publication."