Figure spec check

Check a figure against journal specs before you submit

Pick a target journal profile, then choose your figure. The check runs entirely in your browser: the file is never uploaded, no image is generated, no credits are spent and no account is needed. You get a line-by-line report of what the file actually contains, plus a separate list of the rules a browser cannot measure.

Journal spec check

Drop in the figure you are about to submit and see it measured against the target journal's published requirements — format, pixels, aspect ratio, resolution and printed size.

This runs entirely in your browser — the file is decoded by this page, never uploaded, never stored, and never sent to a server of ours. Safe for unpublished or embargoed figures: close the tab and nothing is left behind.

Drop a figure here, or click to choose one

PNG, JPEG, TIFF or WebP — read locally, never uploaded

Confirm these yourself

Not checked

A browser cannot measure any of these from pixels, so this page does not check them and will never mark them as passed. Confirm each one in the software you exported the figure from.

  • Minimum font size

    Journals set a floor for type at print size, commonly 5–7 pt. Measure it at the size the figure will actually be printed, not at the size it appears on screen.

  • Line and stroke width

    Hairlines that look fine on screen can vanish in print. Most guidelines put the floor near 0.25 pt at final size.

  • Color mode (RGB or CMYK)

    The browser cannot read a file's ICC intent, so RGB and CMYK look identical here. Check your export settings if the journal prints in CMYK.

  • Font embedding

    Only relevant for vector submissions (PDF, EPS, AI). A font that is not embedded gets substituted at the publisher's end, and every label shifts.

  • Still readable in grayscale

    If the figure may be printed in black and white, check that the categories still separate without color — by lightness, pattern or a direct label.

Where these numbers come from

Taken from the publisher's own author guidelines. Specs do change — open the link and confirm against the current version before you submit.

Dimensions
Minimum 1328 × 531 px; keep the same 500:200 ratio for larger images
Resolution
Minimum 300 dpi
Notes
Preferred files include TIFF, EPS, PDF, or MS Office; avoid unnecessary whitespace.
Elsevier graphical abstract guide
Adjust size and marginsFull size guide

Multiple AI models

GPT Image 2, Nano Banana, Seedream 5, Flux 2 Pro and more — pick the right one per figure.

Up to 4K export

Render at 1K, 2K or 4K for print-ready manuscript output.

Text & sketch to figure

Start from a prompt, or refine a rough hand-drawn sketch.

Free to start

Free account in seconds — every figure is saved to your private history.

Figure spec check

What the report looks like

Screenshots of the checker itself, not generated artwork. The values shown come from one example file; your own report depends on the file you choose and the profile you select.

How the check works

Measured facts first, unmeasurable rules kept separate

Figure spec check report showing warnings on resolution and aspect ratio1

What the browser can actually measure

The file is read as bytes and decoded locally. Pixel dimensions, aspect ratio and file size are exact. The format comes from the leading bytes rather than the filename, so a PNG renamed to .tif is still reported as a PNG. Color and transparency are answered statistically from a downsampled copy, which is enough for a yes-or-no question and keeps a very large file from filling a browser tab.

  • Pixel width and height, and the aspect ratio they imply
  • File format read from the leading bytes, not the extension
  • File size against a soft submission-portal ceiling
  • Declared resolution, and the physical size derived from it
  • Whether any pixels are transparent
  • Whether the artwork is effectively grayscale
Confirm-by-hand group listing font size, stroke width, color mode, font embedding and grayscale print2

What it cannot measure, and says so

A raster image does not carry the information some submission rules need, so those rules are listed in a separate confirm-by-hand group instead of being marked green. Nothing in that group has been evaluated. Reading a green report as though it had cleared them is the one way this tool could send a figure to a desk reject with the author believing it had been checked.

  • Minimum font size — needs text recognition plus a physical conversion
  • Stroke width — the same problem, measured against the printed width
  • CMYK or color intent — the browser cannot read ICC rendering intent
  • Font embedding — a property of PDF and EPS artwork, not of pixels
  • Whether categories stay distinguishable after a grayscale print
Measured facts panel showing format, file size, pixel dimensions, aspect ratio and declared dpi3

A missing resolution is not a broken figure

Plenty of export paths never write a density tag, so the report often shows no declared dpi. That is a warning, not a failure, and it says nothing about whether the pixels are good enough. What decides print quality is pixel width divided by printed width in inches. A figure with no declared dpi and a generous pixel width is usually fine; one that declares 300 dpi but has few pixels is not. When a journal asks for a density value, set it in your export tool and check again.

  • Confirm dimensions, file format, and resolution
  • Review the target venue's AI-use policy
  • Complete a final expert review before use
Figure spec check upload panel with a drop zone and a note that the file stays in the browser4

Where the journal numbers come from

Each profile is derived from the publisher requirements table on the graphical abstract size guide, which carries the official source link for every row. This page deliberately keeps no second copy of those numbers — a spec checker quietly enforcing last year’s rule is worse than none. Open the guide to read the requirement in the publisher’s own wording, and follow the source link before you rely on it.

  • Profiles are generated from the guide table, not typed in twice
  • Every report links back to the publisher source for the selected profile
  • A profile whose source row changes is dropped rather than guessed at

A pre-submission cross-check, not the journal rulebook

This report compares one file with one stored profile. It cannot see the current author guidelines for your journal, its production requirements, the rules for your specific article type, or any instruction an editor has given you. Requirements are revised and they differ between journals from the same publisher. Treat the report as a cross-check to run before submission, and confirm every item against the official author guidelines for the journal you are submitting to.

Figure spec check questions

Related tools and guides

Graphical Abstract Size Guide

Publisher dimensions and resolution, each with its official source link.

Trim Figure Margins

Crop the empty margin around an exported figure, also in the browser.

Figure Recolor

Move a figure onto a color-blind-safe or grayscale-safe palette.

All SciFig tools

Browse tools by output, discipline, and mode.

Journal Figure Resize

Reflow a finished figure into a column, banner, cover or square proportion.

Background Cleanup

Replace a cluttered background with a uniform white, gray or black ground.

All tools

Run the check before you submit

The spec check above is free, needs no account, and keeps your file on your machine. Sign in when you want the AI tools that fix what it finds.