The EMBO Journal figure size & submission guidelines
EMBO's submission instructions are more specific than its reputation suggests — a width range instead of columns, explicit resolution tiers, and CMYK throughout. One honest warning: EMBO's own documents disagree with each other, flagged below.
| Figure width | Any width between 82 mm and 172 mm on the printed page — EMBO states a range, not fixed column widths |
|---|---|
| Maximum height | Not stated in the submission instructions |
| Resolution | The instructions state two schemes: in the figures section, halftone (greyscale/colour) at least 300 dpi and bitmap (b/w) artwork at least 1,000 dpi; for final-revision files, colour 300 dpi, greyscale 600 dpi, line art 1,200 dpi. Designing greyscale to 600 and line art to 1,200 satisfies both |
| Panel labels | Uppercase A, B, C — bold, in Helvetica |
| Fonts | Helvetica, Times, Symbol or Courier (Courier for sequence data); embed fonts where possible. No minimum size stated |
| File formats | TIFF and EPS for publication; AI or EPS preferred for line art, charts and graphs; high-resolution PDF also accepted. Photoshop/TIFF files must keep text and arrows on individual layers |
| Colour | CMYK — all colour artwork must be submitted in CMYK colour mode |
| Other | No colour charges; scale bars are required, with the length defined in the legend rather than on the bar |
The buttons open the studio with the width, 300 dpi export and bold capital labels already set for The EMBO Journal. For line-art panels, export PDF/SVG — vector output clears the 1,200 dpi tier by being resolution-independent.
EMBO's documents conflict: a separate author-guidelines document on the publisher's website lists 88 / 180 mm widths and lowercase bold panel letters. The numbers on this page follow the journal's submission-system instructions — the document your files are actually checked against. If your handling editor points you to the other document, follow theirs.
How it works
- Add your panels — drop in images or PDF pages; white margins are trimmed automatically.
- Arrange & label — the width, DPI and label style are already set for The EMBO Journal; drag panels into order.
- Export — free PNG at 100 DPI to check the layout; high-res PNG / SVG / PDF (300–1200 DPI) with a figure credit.
Pricing: free preview · Manuscript pack $7 (12 figures) · Researcher annual $79 · Lab annual $249. One credit exports one figure in any format, and re-exports of the same figure are free for 24 hours — built for revision rounds.
Specs summarised from the official source: The EMBO Journal — author instructions (submission system). Journals update their rules — always confirm against the current official guidelines before you submit.
More guides: All journal figure guides · How to combine graphs into one figure · Figure resolution & DPI, explained · Back to the studio