What file formats are accepted for publication?
See information on Acceptable Electronic File Formats.

Why are EPS and TIFF files the preferred formats?
EPS and TIFF are both portable and are the approval archival formats by the Information Technology Committee.

Encapsulated PostScript (EPS) supports both vector graphics and placed TIFF images. The best results are obtained with software applications that can save in EPS format (e.g., Adobe® Illustrator®, Corel® Draw®, Canvas®). EPS is preferred over TIFF. See What are the requirements for submitting an EPS figure.

TIFF supports only bitmap images and is more difficult to manipulate than EPS. TIFF file quality is determined by resolution or dots per inch (dpi). TIFF is the default for scanning. See What are the requirements for submitting a TIFF figure.

Why can’t I submit other file formats?
AGU follows the guidelines specified by the Information Technology Committee. The file types and explanations are described in Acceptable Electronic File Formats.

What should I do if I am unable to submit my files in the requested format?
If you are unable to submit files electronically, send the hard copy to the Editor’s assistant for your journal. AGU will have the figures scanned. There is an additional fee for this service.

If you are unable to provide EPS or TIFF figures, you can provide PDF figures that are distilled with the Adobe® Acrobat® job options set to “print” mode. Note that this is the only PDF that is acceptable.

Which format will give me the best quality for printing?
True vector EPS images will result in the best quality for printing. See What are the requirements for submitting an EPS figure.

What format is best for a photograph?
Provide a photograph as a high-resolution JPEG or a TIFF at the final size for publication. See What are the figure sizing requirements?

What can I do to retain full detail in a figure with many thousand points of data?
AGU provides all original figures (EPS or TIF) to be accessible to the reader as Enhanced Figures from the HTML version of the published article. These figures are in addition to the faster-loading, lower-resolution figures placed within the article itself. Enhanced figures are part of the permanent archive and will be stored and maintained by AGU.

What program is the industry standard for creating EPS and TIFF files?
The standard graphics programs are Adobe® Illustrator® for EPS and Adobe® Photoshop® for TIFF.

How can I create an EPS or a TIFF file?
Digital art support for several software applications is available at http://cjs.cadmus.com/da/applications.asp. Not all formats in this link are accepted by AGU. See information on Acceptable Electronic File Formats.

What are the requirements for submitting an EPS figure?
Most common graphics software is capable of saving files in EPS (Encapsulated PostScript) format. This option can normally be found under the "Save As..." or "Export..." commands in the File menu.
For vector graphics, EPS is the preferred format as long as the files have these criteria:

• Files that contain placed TIFF images must have a resolution between 300 and 600 dpi.
• Color in figures should be encoded as RGB. AGU will convert the files to CMYK for print and retain RGB mode for Web viewing.
• Files must include an 8-bit preview.
• Fonts must be either outlined or embedded.
• Use Arial, Helvetica, Times, or Symbol fonts.
• Limit vertical space between parts of a figure to only what is necessary for visual clarity.
• All lines must be at least 0.5 point (i.e., do not use hairline rules). This applies to all lines within the figure, including graph tick marks.

How can I ensure that the text in my EPS figure will remain as I submitted it?
If you submit a figure that uses custom or nonstandard fonts, the characters may appear in a different font or completely drop off. To avoid this, fonts must be outlined in an EPS file.

Note that as part of the AGU production process, your figure files are placed on a check site, where you will be asked to carefully check all fonts in figures to make sure that they are correct.

What is an “imposter EPS”?
An imposter EPS is a term that describes a figure that is saved with a __.eps extension but is not true vector art (e.g., Adobe® Photoshop® EPS). True vector art outlines every line in the figure and contains points. If you choose "Select All" in the figure and every line is not highlighted, it is an imposter and should be saved as a TIFF. Another indication of an imposter EPS is if when selected a box appears around the entire figure; this means that the file cannot be manipulated and should be saved as a TIFF.

Can I simply save my figure file as an EPS?
No. An EPS figure must be true vector art. See What is an "imposter EPS".

What are the requirements for submitting a TIFF figure?
Most common graphics software are capable of saving files in TIFF (Tagged Image File Format) format. This option can normally be found under the "Save As..." or "Export..." commands in the File menu. TIFF file quality is determined by its resolution or dpi (dots per inch.) TIFF files only support bitmap images and are more difficult to manipulate than EPS.

File extensions for PC computers are __ .TIF
File extensions for Macintosh computers are __ .TIFF

TIFF is the recommended file format for figures that contain a photograph, halftones, shading, texture, patterns, or gradation blends for either color or black and white. (Note that if a color figure consists of only text and line art, it should be saved as an EPS.) TIFF supports several compression schemes, ensuring that file sizes are kept to a minimum for easier file transfer.

TIFF files must be at the following minimum resolution:
line art (bitmap) 1200 dpi
halftone or color 300 dpi
combination (line/halftone) 600 dpi

How can I ensure that my TIFF will print clearly?
To ensure that TIFF files print clearly:

• Size final width between 8 and 16 cm.
• The resolution must be 300 dpi for color, gray scale, or continuous tone images and 1200 dpi for bitmap or line art strictly composed of black and white.
• Remove any extra white space around the figure.
• Also see How do I properly scan an image.

How do I properly scan an image?
Scan the image at a resolution between 300 and 600 dpi for color, gray scale, or continuous tone images and at 1200 dpi for bitmap or line art images. Also, scan the image at the size you would like your image to appear in print (see What are the figure sizing requirements). Avoid scanning extraneous white space around the image; this will not only keep the file size down, but it will also ensure better contrast in the scanned image itself. Check the final scan carefully to make sure that the contrasts and shades are true to the image data.

What font face should I use?
Use Arial, Helvetica, Times, or Symbol fonts.

What font size should I use?

What line weight is required?
All lines must be at least 0.5 point (i.e., do not use hairline rules). This applies to all lines within the figure, including graph tick marks.

What resolution is required?
The resolution must be 300 dpi for color, gray scale, or continuous tone images and 1200 dpi for bitmap or line art strictly composed of black and white.

What are the figure sizing requirements?
For most AGU journals the average range is 7–16 cm. (Radio Science’s figure sizing ranges between 8 and 16 cm; Geophysical Research Letters’ figure sizing ranges from 5 to 16 cm.)

• A full one-column figure is 8.4 cm.
• A full two-column figure is 16.9 cm.
• Height of any figure cannot exceed 23.7 cm.

How do I determine what size to make my figure?
All information within the figure, including symbols, legends, characters, patterns, and shading must be legible when printed at the final size.

How do I size a photograph or figure with halftones?
When sizing photographs or halftones, make sure magnification factors or scale bars reflect the details inside the figure. Provide images at the final size for publication. See What are the figure sizing requirements?

What is the best way to save my black and white figure?
Black and white or gray figures should be saved as gray scale. Make sure that figures intended for black-and-white reproduction do not contain any color points. Unexpected points of color embedded in figure identified as black and white by authors require extra processing and may cause delays.

What is the best way to save my color figure as a gray scale?
Use gray levels between 20% and 80%, with at least 20% difference between the levels of gray. Use a screen of 80 lpi (lines per inch) or lower (coarser), and make the figures as close to final publication size as possible; reduction can cause levels of gray to drop out. Whenever possible, use different patterns of hatching instead of shades of gray to differentiate between areas of a figure. Required resolution for gray scale files is 300–600 dpi.

What is the best way to save my figure if it has shading?
If a figure has shading, it should be saved as a TIFF file to ensure that the patterns and shading are retained. Make sure line weights inside patterns are a minimum of 0.5 pt.

What color mode should I use?
Color figures must be prepared as RGB (red, green, and blue) files. RGB colors are used for Web display. AGU will convert RGB figures to CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, black) for printing. Authors have the opportunity to view both RGB and converted CMYK versions on the checksite once the article has been accepted for publication.

What is RGB?
RGB (red, green, blue) figures are best viewed on the Web.

What is CMYK?
CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, black) figures are used for commercial printing.

How can I make my figure color-blind?
In order to make the meaning of your figure clear whether the user views or prints it in black and white or color, the figures and accompanying figure captions should be color-blind:

• Use distinct symbols (e.g., circles, squares, triangles).
• Use solid, dashed, and dotted lines.
• Use open versus closed (solid) symbols.

What can I do to ensure prompt publication?

1. Follow format and guidelines:
   • Acceptable File Formats
   • Guidelines for Preparing Graphics Files
   • See Tools for Authors for additional information.
2. Provide a color option, and also B&W and color figures as appropriate.
3. Combine figures, if necessary.
4. Name files correctly. See How should I name my files.
5. Make sure captions match figures.
6. Proof figures thoroughly and promptly when you receive e-mail notification of their availability.

How can I reduce file size without losing quality?
For TIFFs, flatten the figure so that all of the layers are combined. Compress using the LZW compression. For EPS, delete any unused or hidden layers. Distilling the EPS to a PDF will also reduce the size because all PDFs have automatic compression. (Note that this PDF must be distilled with the Adobe® Acrobat® job options set to “print” mode.) See bulleted items in Guidelines for Preparing Graphics Files.

Why are the figures in my online PDF fuzzy?
The online PDF is intended only for printing to a local printer. The figures are compressed to 150 dpi to keep downloading time to a minimum. Note that only TIFF files will appear fuzzy because the file format has a set resolution of 150 dpi. A true vector EPS file has no resolution limit, and thus the PDF quality will not be fuzzy. If there is a print version for a journal, the figures will be of higher quality, 300–600 dpi for color or gray scale figures and 1200 dpi for line art.

How should I name my files?
Name your files with the article number+dash+figure number+the extension. If the figure is a black and white image, label the figure number with the letter “f.” If the figure is color, label the figure number with the letter “p.” Example include 2004jd003456-f01, 2004jd003456-f02, 2004jd003456-p03, 2004jd003456-p04.

Should I combine my multipart figures into one file?
Yes. AGU cannot combine figures for the author. The number of figure files should equal the number of figure captions, i.e., one file per caption. Add a,b,c labels to combined figures if parts are referred to in the caption or in the text. We recommend that figures be combined in the same graphics package where the image was created.