Printing and Exporting Figures with MATLAB

Setting the Export File Format

This section describes what a file format is, which formats are available, and how to set the file format. It also includes detailed information about some of the formats. The main topics discussed are:

• What is a File Format?
• Supported Formats and Related Options
• Details About Selected File Formats
• How to Choose a File Format

What is a File Format?

A file format is a specification for storing and organizing data in a file. MATLAB supports many different file formats.

Some formats are bitmap (raster), and others are vector. Color support varies; a format may support color, grayscale, or black and white. Some of the supported formats come in different varieties. For example, there are color and grayscale varieties of the EPS format. These and other attributes of formats are discussed in detail under More About MATLAB Format Types.

Default Format

The default format depends on the interface you use to export. When you export to a file using the user interface, EMF (EPS on UNIX) is the default format. If you export to the clipboard using the user interface, the default format depends upon the nature of the figure. See Clipboard Formats for more information.

If you use the print command to export to a file or to the clipboard, there is no default format; you must set one.

Supported Formats and Related Options

The table below lists and shows how to set all of the available export formats and related options. The first column indicates the format's color, whether it's a built-in MATLAB or Ghostscript format, and when it's a bitmap format, it also shows a bit depth. Some formats are only available when you use the print command. To check this, see the second column.

For more information on how to select and use these formats, see

• Exporting Quick Start
• Exporting Using MATLAB Commands
• Exporting to the Clipboard Using the Graphical Interface
• Exporting to the Clipboard Using MATLAB Commands
• Details About Selected File Formats
  
  

  Table 4-1: Export Formats and Export-Only Options 

  Export Format or Option	Menu Component	Option or Property
  BMP -- bitmap format 24-bit color (Ghostscript).	Not available: use print command.	print -dbmp16m
  BMP -- bitmap format 24-bit color (MATLAB).	Not available: use print command.	print -dbmp
  BMP -- bitmap format 8-bit color (Ghostscript).	Not available: use print command.	print -dbmp256
  BMP -- clipboard bitmap format. 8-bit color. Can also be exported to file. (MATLAB)	For clipboard: Preferences dialog box: Copy Preferences. For export to file: Export dialog box: Save as type.	print -dbitmap (do not include a filename if you want to copy figure to clipboard)
  Copy -- copy figure to clipboard. See also BMP (the fourth entry) and EMF in this table.	Edit menu: Copy Figure	print -dbitmap print -dmeta (do not include a filename)
  EMF -- clipboard color vector format. Can also be exported to file. (MATLAB)	For clipboard: Preferences dialog box: Copy Preferences. For export to file: Export dialog box: Save as type.	print -dmeta (do not include filename if you want to copy figure to clipboard)
  EPS Level 1 Color -- vector format. (MATLAB)	Export dialog box: Save as type.	print -depsc
  EPS Level 1 Grayscale -- vector format. (MATLAB)	Export dialog box: Save as type.	print -deps
  EPS Level 2 Color -- vector format. (MATLAB)	Export dialog box: Save as type.	print -depsc2
  EPS Level 2 Grayscale -- vector format. (MATLAB)	Export dialog box: Save as type.	print -deps2
  HDF -- bitmap format 24-bit color (MATLAB).	Not available; use print command.	print -dhdf
  ILL (Adobe Illustrator) -- color vector format. (MATLAB)	Export dialog box: Save as type.	print -dill
  JPEG -- bitmap format 24-bit color (MATLAB).	Export dialog box: Save as type.	print -djpeg
  JPEG Quality -- compression quality setting for JPEG format.	Not available; use print command.	print -djpeg<nn> where nn is an integer between 0 and 100
  PBM -- bitmap format, 1-bit (monochrome) (Ghostscript).	Export dialog box: Save as type.	print -dpbm
  PBM -- raw bitmap format, 8-bit (Ghostscript).	Not available; use print command.	print -dpbmraw
  PCX -- bitmap format, 1-bit (monochrome) (Ghostscript).	Not available; use print command.	print -dpcxmono
  PCX -- bitmap format, 24-bit color (Ghostscript).	Export dialog box: Save as type.	print -dpcx24
  PCX -- bitmap format, 4-bit grayscale (Ghostscript).	Not available; use print command.	print -dpcx16
  PCX -- bitmap format, 8-bit grayscale (Ghostscript).	Not available; use print command.	print -dpcx256
  PGM -- bitmap format, 8-bit grayscale (Ghostscript).	Export dialog box: Save as type.	print -dpgm
  PGM -- raw bitmap format, 8-bit grayscale (Ghostscript).	Not available; use print command.	print -dpgmraw
  PNG -- bitmap format, 24-bit color (MATLAB).	Export dialog box: Save as type.	print -dpng
  PPM -- bitmap format, 8-bit color (Ghostscript).	Export dialog box: Save as type.	print -dppm
  PPM -- raw bitmap format, 8-bit (Ghostscript).	Not available; use print command.	print -dppmraw
  TIFF -- bitmap format, 24-bit color uncompressed. (MATLAB).	Save as type from Export menu.	print -dtiffnocompression
  TIFF -- bitmap format, 24-bit color with lossless RLE compression. (MATLAB).	Save as type from Export menu.	print -dtiff
  TIFF preview, include a TIFF preview image with an EPS file.	Not available; use print command.	print -depsc2 -tiff

Example - Exporting to a TIFF File

Details About Selected File Formats