International Mine Water Association

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“Mine Water and the Environment”

FAQ - frequently asked questions - Figures | Tables | Text

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Which graphic types do you prefer?
Which graphic packeages shall I use?
How would you like to get my figures?
How shall I print my MS Excel graphs?
Why shall I remove the grid lines, the background and the frames in my figures in legends?
What is the graphics resolution that you need?
How much do I need to pay for colour graphs?
May I submit additional material?
How shall I submit graphs from SigmaPlot?

Which graphic types do you prefer?

Depending on the graphic type, they must be in one of two principal graphic versions:
Pixel Graphs in TIFF (width at least 1000 pixel, enlargement of smaller figures will not help to improve the figure quality. In case they are too small, we can't publish them),
Vector Graphs in EPS, WMF, or PDF. Suitable drawing programs are: Freehand, Illustrator, Corel Draw, Designer.
Please don’t use JPG-Format, as those graphs usually reproduce poorly!

Which graphic packages shall I use?

Scatter plots, bar plots box plots: Please use SigmaPlot, Origin or the free software tool gnuplot (http://www.gnuplot.info/). Avoid MS Excel for scientific graphs, as those graphs usually don't look nice. In all cases avoid hairlines, all lines must have at least 1 px width.

How would you like to get my figures?

Please send ALL figures as separate files at final submission. Name your graphic files in the following way: yoursurname_fig_01, yoursurname_fig_02, yoursurname_fig_03, and so on. Send them together in ONE ZIP or RAR-file. Don't include them in your word document.

How shall I print my MS Excel graphs?

Please convert them to EPS, PS, or PDF files. The easiest way is to print the file to the Adobe PDF printer or distiller with fonts embedded. DO NOT USE THE PDF-writer. Do not simply convert Excel files into TIFF-files; that just makes them worse!

Why shall I remove the grid lines, the background and the frames in my figures in legends?

Grid lines shall be avoided in scientific publications because they usually can't be printed in an acceptable quality. Especially the background usually gets too dark and your readers can't interpret your graphs. For the same reason remove your frames around figures and legends and move your legends into the graph. Please don't frame your graphs. In case you used frames remove them throughout your graphics.

What is the graphics resolution that you need?

As a rule of thumb, one column graphs at a 300 dpi resolution need 1,000 pixels width.

Original	(Scan) Mode	Resolution	Format
Monotone illustration (photo/transparency)	Greyscale (8 bits)	300 dpi	TIFF
Color illustration (photo/transparency)	RGB or CMYK (24 bits)	300 dpi	TIFF
Black/white line drawing	Line	800—1200 dpi	WMF or EP

How much do I need to pay for colour graphs?

Nothing. Your colour graphs will be printed free of charge as of Januar 1st 2008.

May I submit additional material?

Yes, you may publish electronic appendices in any format you wish (e.g. graphs, files, tables, videos, software).

How shall I submit graphs from SigmaPlot?

Open SigmaPlot and in SigmaPlot your Graph. Then: