High-quality figures are important for your paper––that means figures that represent your data well, are easy for the reader to interpret, and have not undergone any inappropriate image manipulation. We can help you make your figures better by providing feedback in our figure reports, and by editing your figures. Contact us here for figure reports, image integrity analysis, and figure preparation services.

Need a magnificent model figure? They’re our figure expert’s specialty! We can use your original model as a starting point if you send us an editable file like a PDF or a Powerpoint slide. And if you’re feeling old-school, send us a sketch. Here are some examples from our figure expert, Patrice Salomé:

Why is this model so good?

• Genes and proteins are easy to distinguish by shape and type (italic/non-italic)
• The type is easy to read and looks clean and professional
• The informative color scheme connects the gene and encoded protein
• The accessible color scheme means that colors can be interpreted by people with impaired color vision
• Images are judiciously used for illustration

Why is this model so good?

• The design is clean and conveys the basic mechanism in an easy to understand way
• Genes and proteins are clearly different
• Type is easy to read, for a look that is clean and professional
• Images illustrate the phenomenon

Why is this Venn diagram so good?

• Clean look with easy-to-read type
• Colors do not hide text
• Sizes of circles are proportional to numbers, making the diagram easy to understand visually

Why is this bar graph so good?

• Text is clean and easy to read
• The informative color scheme helps the reader visually understand the data
• The accessible color scheme is easy to interpret by people with impaired color vision
• Error bars are visible and axes are clearly labelled with appropriate units

Are you noticing a theme with these examples? Our figure expert emphasizes easy-to-read text, informative and accessible color schemes, and clear, uncluttered model diagrams. Making your model diagrams, graphs, and other figures couldn’t be easier––contact us for more information.