Why did font size change when copying figure from matlab to Illustrator?

Hi there

I was copying some figures from matlab to illustrator and noticed that the font size decreased. Here is what I did: go to Edit in matlab figure---copy figure---right click paste in illustrator (or go to Edit in illustrator---paste in text). They all give the same results. Is there a way to keep the same image when copying from matlab to illustrator while at the same time still allow me to modify the figures?

Thank you very much

[Mark Sherstan]

If I remember correctly illustrator imports images based on their PPI so even if you set up your pixel dimensions correctly illustrator will resize it to match the documents PPI's. I think if you adjust your settings as outlined here and save the image instead of copying and pasting it you will have better luck. Let me know if this helps at all or if the problem persists.

[Shirley]

Hi Mark

Thank you very much for the suggestion. Unfortunately this doesn't work for me. The fonts indeed kept the same (I have tried this before). But at the same time, I lose the ability to modify the figures. Is there a way to keep the figures including the fonts the same but still allow me to modify the figures?

Thanks

[Mark Sherstan]

I ran the following to generate the plot:

x = 1:10;
y = x.^2;

plot(x,y)
title('x^2','FontSize',16)
print(gcf, '-depsc2', 'test.eps')

And use the placed command in illustrator to load the image. All sizes appeared to line up correctly. I am running MacOS Mojave, MATLAB 2018b and Adobe Illustrator CS5.

Answer 1

[Ankit Dutta]

If you want to edit a figure in some other applications, save it as vector graphics file, using formats such as PDF or EPS. To export figures in Matlab to Illustrator, do the following:

Using GUI

1. Select your figure. Now, choose File menu, Save As...
2. Save the file as an .eps file (encapsulated postscript file)
3. In Illustrator, you can open this .eps file

Using commands

You can either use saveas or print function to save the figure.

For example to save a figure as an EPS file using 'epsc' file format

saveas(gcf,'FigureFile','epsc') 

Please refer to the documentation on ‘Save Figure to Open in Another Application’ for more information.