Figures/Illustrations:
The authors should provide the illustrations as separate files, as well as embedded in the text file, numbered consecutively in the order of their appearance. Each figure should include a single illustration. No charges will be levied on the use of color figures except in the reprints. Each figure should be closely cropped to minimize the amount of white space surrounding the illustration.
If a figure consists of separate parts, it is important that a single composite illustration file be submitted, containing all parts of the figure.
Photographs should be provided with a scale bar if appropriate, as well as high-resolution component files.
Scaling/Resolution:
For Line Art image type, which is generally an image based on lines and text and does not contain tonal or shaded areas, the preferred file format is TIFF or EPS, with colour mode being Monochrome 1-bit or RGB, in a resolution of 900-1200 dpi.
For Halftone image type, which is generally a continuous tone photograph and contains no text, the preferred file format is TIFF, with colour mode being or RGB or Grayscale, with a minimum resolution of 300 dpi.
For Combination image type, which is generally an image containing halftone in addition to text or line art elements, the preferred file format is TIFF, with colour mode being or RGB or Grayscale, in a resolution of 500-900 dpi.
Formats:
For illustrations, the following file formats are acceptable:
-
Illustrator
-
EPS (preferred format for diagrams)
-
PDF (also especially suitable for diagrams)
-
PNG (preferred format for photos or images)
-
Microsoft Word (version 5 and above; figures must be a single page)
-
PowerPoint (figures must be a single page)
-
TIFF
-
JPEG (conversion should be done using the original file)
-
BMP
-
CDX (ChemDraw)
-
TGF (ISIS/Draw)
Bentham OPEN does not process figures submitted in GIF format.
If the large size of TIFF or EPS figures acts as an obstacle to online submission, authors may find that conversion to JPEG format before submission results in significantly reduced file size and upload time, while retaining acceptable quality. JPEG is a 'lossy' format, however. In order to maintain acceptable image quality, it is recommended that JPEG files are saved at High or Maximum quality.
Files should not be compressed with tools such as Zipit or Stuffit prior to submission as these tools will in any case produce negligible file-size savings for JPEGs and TIFFs, which are already compressed.
Please do not:
- Supply embedded graphics in your word processor (spreadsheet, presentation) document;
- Supply files that are optimized for screen use (like GIF, BMP, PICT, WPG); the resolution is too low;
- Supply files that are too low in resolution;
- Submit graphics that are disproportionately large for the content.
Segments of computer programs or output are treated like diagrams and are reproduced from good quality material provided by author(s) (normal line printer output is not considered good quality).
Image Conversion Tools:
There are many software packages, many of them freeware or shareware, capable of converting to and from different graphics formats, including PNG.
Good general tools for image conversion include Graphic Converter on the Macintosh, Paint Shop Pro, for Windows, and ImageMagick, which is available on Macintosh, Windows and UNIX platforms.
Note that bitmap images (e.g. screenshots) should not be converted to EPS, since this will result in a much larger file size than the equivalent JPEG, TIFF, PNG or BMP, with no increase in quality. EPS should only be used for images produced by vector-drawing applications such as Adobe Illustrator or CorelDraw. Most vector-drawing applications can be saved in, or exported as, EPS format. In case the images have been originally prepared in an Office application, such as Word or Power Point, then the original Office files should be directly uploaded to the site, instead of being converted to JPEG or another format that may be of low quality.