Annual Reviews Graphics Guide

1. Keep gures editable

Annual Reviews has a team of Illustration Editors who work with your gures

using Adobe Illustrator to ensure accuracy and consistency, provide graphical

enhancements, and apply our house style. During this process, we may change

font, type size, colors, layout, gure size, and information hierarchy, and we may

redraw certain elements.

Therefore, while we prefer that gures be as close to nal as possible when you

send them, please make sure the les are not attened* or uneditable.

NOTE: many other journals require print-ready, attened les; our requirement

for editable les is quite dierent, due to the gure enhancement and editing

we provide.

Examples of desired gure attributes:

If you are creating your gures from scratch:

If you are using previously published gures:

2. Submit PDF les

• Always send us a high-quality PDF of every gure.

Look for “save as PDF" or "export PDF" options; otherwise, choose “Print” and

select “PDF le” as the destination instead of your printer.

• Please ensure the le name includes the correct gure number.

• If you used the following programs to create the image, please also send the

gure in the original le format listed:

Adobe Illustrator: .AI

Adobe Photoshop: layered .PSD or .TIF

Microsoft PowerPoint: .PPT/.PPTX

• AR encourages authors to submit video clips. Please see our supplemental

material guidelines for information on format and compression:

http://www.annualreviews.org/page/authors/author-instructions/preparing/supmat

3. Contact us with questions

If you have questions or need help creating gures, please ask your Production

Editor to put you in touch with the Illustration Editor for your volume.

• Send the original, editable/vector format

wherever possible (for graphs, diagrams, etc.).

Avoid creating line- or text-heavy diagrams in

raster programs such as Photoshop.

• Keep text/lines on separate layers from any

photo, or send one version of the image with

labels and one without. Suggested: place the

photo in Illustrator or PowerPoint, then add

text/lines; send us the original .AI or .PPT le.

• Make sure all photos you start with are high

resolution (300 dpi at desired nal size).

• Consult our Figure Permission Guide for details.

• Request permission from the copyright

holders to adapt gures; include citation/

license/permission info in the captions. (Authors

are responsible for obtaining all permissions,

ideally BEFORE submitting the gures.)

• The low-resolution gures found in online

journals are usually not adequate for our

press-quality publication. Contact the author or

publisher for high-resolution, editable les.

• Redrawing a gure does not change copyright;

if the original author would recognize the gure

as theirs, permission to adapt/modify the gure

must be obtained.

• Why PDF? Almost all programs can output PDF

les, which maintain the exact look of the image

while preserving vector data, editable text, and

high-resolution raster images, all at once.

• Unacceptable le formats include:

For les created in these and other programs

not listed in the blue box at left, please save as,

export, or print to .PDF, .EPS, or .SVG format.

• High-resolution .JPG or .PNG les are acceptable

only for photos without text, lines, or labels.

• BioRender-created gures are not ideal because

all images are rasterized upon export. (Export as

PDF to retain editable text.) BioRender gures will

be either retouched or treated as sketches/drafts

and redrawn entirely.

Further notes on le format:

ArcGIS (various)

Canvas (.CNV, .CVX)

Cricket Graph (.CGG)

Freehand (.FH)

Kaleidagraph (.QPC)

Painter (.RIF)

SigmaPlot (various)

Visio (.VSD)

OV+NA

OV+AN

VO+AN

VO+NA

MCs

Mauer’s

clefts

Knob

PVM

PPM

Parasite

plasma

membrane

Food

vacuole

0.2 μm

Microsoft Excel: .XLS/.XLSX

CorelDraw: .CDR

ChemDraw: .CDX, .CDXML

Color/symbol

key is included

Editable, vector

lines, shapes,

and arrows

Text is live and

editable, not

embedded

Text and arrows are

on separate layers

from main image

Scale bar is labeled with

value and units

Raster or photo-

graphic images are

in high resolution

(300 dpi)

Color is used to

emphasize and

dierentiate the most

important elements

*Technical terms are dened on pages 3 and 4



Mf prevalence (%)

Duration of control (years)

0 10 20 30 40 50

With

control

IMV/ALB

DEC/ALB

Increased DEC/ALB

Our general specs

What is the dierence between vector and raster?

• We prepare all gures to t our layout; you do not need to size

your gures exactly. Ideally, make gures larger and higher

resolution than they need to be; it is easier for us to scale down

as needed than to scale up. The largest image dimensions we can

publish per page are 6.33 × 7.9 inches (160 × 200 mm).

• Photos must be at least 300-dpi resolution at nal layout size. For

an image to be 3 × 3 in. (76 × 76 mm), it must be 900 × 900 pixels.

• We change all type to house style, which uses Myriad Pro, with

most type at 7–8 pt size; minimum size is normally 6 pt.

Vector (object-oriented image)

Why graphs and similar imagery should NOT be submitted in raster format:

Raster (bitmap or scanned image)

• Do not include so many panels (gure parts) that the majority of

the type must be smaller than 7 pt when the gure ts our page

size. A maximum of six panels per gure is usually reasonable.

• Include only the most important images as gures. Additional

images can be posted online as Supplemental Material. See your

specic AR journal's submission guidelines for recommended

gure numbers.

Vector* images are based on mathematically described points,

lines, and areas; they can therefore be easily resized and edited.

Graphs, diagrams, schematics, and cladograms are usually

created in a vector format and should be submitted as such.

Raster images are made up of pixels, and thus cannot be easily

edited or enlarged without losing resolution or image quality.

Photos, scans, and continuous-tone data plots are examples of

intrinsically raster images, and are ne to submit as such.

File formats that are usually vector: File formats that are always raster:

Adobe Illustrator (.AI)

PowerPoint (.PPT)

.SVG, .WMF, .CDR

File formats that can be either vector or raster:

Adobe Acrobat (.PDF)

Encapsulated PostScript (.EPS)

Adobe Photoshop (.PSD)

.TIF, .JPG, .PNG, .GIF

No control points or paths

Can only be changed using

photo retouching tools

in Photoshop

Type is not live or editable

Not easily editable

Crisp at all magnications

Imagery consists of a

set of mathematically

described objects, each

separate, independent,

and scalable without

distortion

Control points are connected

by lines called paths

Lines, colors, gradients,

and type are instantly

changeable

Paths can be manipulated

(where appropriate) with handles

Resolution independent

Editable

Detail

Underlying wire-frame view

Jagged pixelation occurs

when image is enlarged

Imagery consists of a grid of

tiny adjacent square pixels,

each one color

Resolution depends on size

of pixels (i.e., dots per inch or dpi)

Resolution dependent

Detail

No wire-frame view exists

The vector image at the left is shown

here rasterized, and is thus no longer

easily editable.

Graph in vector form

Annual Reviews Graphics Guide 2

*Technical terms are dened on pages 3 and 4



Bitmap: (a) A spatially mapped array of bits; that is, an image made up of a xed

number of pixels, also known as a raster image. (b) A raster image made up of

one-bit data (black and white pixels only). This is the meaning used by Adobe

Photoshop’s bitmap mode. (c) Bitmap (BMP) image format, one of many raster

le formats.

CMYK: A color space using the primary colors cyan, magenta, yellow, and black.

K stands for key; black is the key plate on a traditional printing press.

Color space: A description or model of the range of all possible colors that can

be displayed on screen or in print. Display devices such as computer monitors

typically dene colors using RGB, the primary colors of light. Printing processes

typically use CMYK, the primary colors of ink. Annual Reviews converts all

images to the CMYK color space to ensure our journals print properly. The RGB

color space is slightly larger than the CMYK color space due to the proper-

ties of transmitted versus reected light. Therefore certain colors that can be

shown in RGB (especially bright blues and greens) will look less bright when

converted to CMYK.

dpi: A measurement of image resolution, described as dots per (linear) inch or

pixels per (linear) inch (ppi). See resolution for more details.

Editable: An image containing text, lines, and other graphical elements that are

live and can be separately selected, moved, edited, or deleted. Entirely vector

les are the most easily editable. Flattened raster les are considered unedit-

able by Annual Reviews, as they can only be changed to a limited extent, using

time-consuming photo-retouching tools. Typically, the format in which the

le was originally created will be most editable, because the gure’s creator

would want to preserve the ability to easily move and change elements. For

example, a Photoshop (PSD) le with a background photo and live text on top,

on a separate layer, is considered editable. A JPG version of the same le would

not be editable, because the layers would be attened and the text would be

embedded into the pixels making up the image.

Embedded text: Text that has been rasterized and attened into the pixels that

make up a raster image. Embedded text becomes part of the image, perma-

nently obscuring whatever was beneath it, and it cannot be moved or edited

without altering the image. As a result of rasterization, embedded text often

appears blurry or pixelated in print. Annual Reviews prefers that images be

submitted with editable text, or text on a separate layer, or in two les, one

with the text and the other without.

EPS: Encapsulated PostScript. A graphics le format used for both vector and

raster images. EPS les can be read by a wide variety of software. Raster data

saved in an EPS le cannot be read as vector data.

Flattened: A attened image is one that was originally created with layers and/or

vector components, then rasterized into a single-layer, non-editable “snapshot”

image. Please avoid sending attened images. Annual Reviews prefers graphics

in a vector or layered format.

JPG or JPEG: A common le format for compressed raster images. Does not

support layers (therefore not appropriate for images with text/lines/labels).

JPG compression is "lossy": it causes the image to permanently lose quality as

the le is compressed; quality deteriorates further each time it is resaved. While

this makes the le size much smaller, it may cause blurriness and smudgy com-

pression artifacts around the edges of color regions. JPG images are commonly

used on the Web, in PowerPoint les, and anywhere else small le size is more

important than image quality. Unless they come straight from your digital

camera in high resolution and have not been resaved repeatedly, JPG les are

typically not acceptable for submission to Annual Reviews; use TIF instead.

Layers: A way of arranging image les to allow for easy editing. In programs such

as Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, layers allow dierent components of an

image to be kept in separate virtual spaces that are stacked like sheets of trans-

parent acetate. Text can be kept on a separate layer from the rest of an image,

Annual Reviews Graphics Guide 3

Denitions

JPG compression

artifacts show in areas

that were pure white

before compression

Embedded text: all text has been

converted to uneditable pixels

Rasterized image: lines that used

to be crisp, editable vector are

now converted to blurry pixels.

Example of uneditable image —please make sure submitted

les are editable.

(Continued on next page)

Example of the same image in RGB versus CMYK color space.

Layers allow dierent parts of

an image, such as text, arrows,

or shapes, to be separated

and restacked.

so that it can be moved without aecting the underlying layer. In Photoshop

and similar programs, if multiple layers are merged into a single layer, the

image has been attened and is no longer editable. Annual Reviews prefers to

receive layered les whenever possible.

PDF: Portable Document Format. A le format created to enable image and le

transfers between software programs. Image, text, and layout information is

stored in a manner that is independent of the operating system or software

program in which the le was created. Because of its ability to protect the

exact look of an image, while also preserving vector information, fonts, and im-

age resolution, PDF is the preferred le format for gures submitted to Annual

Reviews. Be sure to select high resolution and no image compression if given

the option when saving as PDF.

Pixel: Also called a picture element or dot, a pixel is the smallest element of a ras-

ter digital image. Each pixel is a small square of a single color that is arrayed in

a grid adjacent to other pixels; viewed together, many tiny pixels form a larger

visible image. The more pixels an image contains per unit area, the higher its

resolution is, and the clearer and more detailed it will look.

Pixelated: Visibly showing pixels, for example as jagged edges on text or color

transitions. If an image is at adequate resolution, no pixels should be visible to

the naked eye at 100% size.

Raster: A term for an image made up of a xed number of pixels, for example, a

digital photo or scanned image. Raster images cannot be made larger in size

without losing resolution, or image quality. Raster images are also sometimes

referred to as bitmap. (See “What is the dierence between vector and raster?”

on page 2.)

Rasterize: To convert an image from vector format into raster format, render-

ing it largely uneditable. Wherever possible, do not rasterize images before

submitting them to Annual Reviews. For example, a graph exported from a

graphing program as a TIF or JPG has been rasterized; exporting it as a PDF or

EPS instead may preserve the vector data.

RGB: A color space using the primary colors red, green, and blue.

Resolution: The density of pixels (dots) in a raster image, usually measured in

dots per (linear) inch (dpi). The higher the resolution of an image, the more

pixels it contains, and the clearer and higher quality it appears when viewed

or printed. Annual Reviews requests all raster images be at least 300 dpi, the

standard resolution for printed images. For example, a 3 x 4-inch image at 300

dpi will measure 900 pixels wide by 1200 pixels high. Internet images are usu-

ally saved at low resolution (often 72 dpi) to minimize le size. While they may

appear clear on screen, they will appear blurry or pixelated in print, and are not

acceptable.

SVG: Scalable Vector Graphics. An XML-based graphics le format used for vector

les (and sometimes animations). If a program does not have PDF as an export

option, SVG is a good choice for preserving editability of the image for Annual

Reviews.

TIF or TIFF: Tagged Image File Format. A graphics le format used for raster les.

TIF les tend to be large, stable, and readable by a wide variety of software.

Annual Reviews prefers all raster images be submitted as TIF. Lossless compres-

sion such as LZW can be used to make TIF les smaller without losing image

quality.

Vector: A type of image that is based on mathematical points connected by

paths. Unlike raster images made of pixels, vector images are resolution-

independent and can be resized without losing quality or sharpness. They are

much smaller in le size, and they are easier to edit because the elements of

an image are recognized as individual, overlapping shapes. Vector images can

be converted into raster images (rasterized), but rasterized images cannot be

converted back the other way. (See “What is the dierence between vector and

raster?” on page 2.)

Annual Reviews Graphics Guide 4

Denitions, continued

High-resolution image.

Acceptable for

publication at AR.

Low-resolution Web

image, with evident

pixelation.

Not acceptable for

publication at AR.