What DPI do journals require for figures?

The usual requirements, which most publishers converge on:

- Line art (graphs, diagrams, anything drawn): 1200 DPI, or 600 as a minimum at many journals - Halftone (photographs, micrographs, gels): 300 DPI - Combination (a photo with labels or a plotted overlay): 600 DPI

Always check your specific journal. These are conventions, not a standard.

DPI is meaningless without a size

DPI is dots per inch, so it only means something once the physical width is fixed. A 300 DPI figure at 180 mm wide contains far more detail than a 300 DPI figure at 90 mm.

Set your figure to the final print width first, then export at the required DPI. See journal figure width.

You cannot add DPI afterwards

Opening a 72 DPI image and setting it to 600 in an image editor adds pixels by interpolation. It does not add detail. The file gets larger and the image gets blurrier. Re-export from the source at the right DPI instead.

Vector avoids the question

For anything drawn rather than photographed, export vector PDF or SVG and DPI stops mattering, because there are no pixels. The figure is sharp at any size. This is why journals prefer vector for line art and why 1200 DPI is only the fallback for when you cannot supply it.

Use raster only for genuine photographic content. See exporting figures as SVG or PDF.

Colour mode

Some journals still request CMYK for print. RGB colours can shift noticeably when converted, so check before you finalise a palette that depends on precise colours.

In Plotara

300 DPI PNG export, plus vector SVG and PDF for line art, with figures sized at journal column width before export.