Workflow for Scientific Paper Figures

Summary

A tutorial for creating publication-quality figures with open-source tools:

The following open-source tools are used:

Main Files
- slides.pdf - Slides (PDF) of the tutorial (CC BY 4.0)
- slides.odp - Slides (ODP) of the tutorial (CC BY 4.0)
- requirements.txt - List of the used Python packages.
- export_inkscape.sh - Export PDF/PNG from Inkscape.
- utils_mpl.py - Utils functions for Matplotlib plots.
- utils_pv.py - Utils functions for PyVista plots.
Python Plots
- plot_line.py - Logarithmic axis and custom axis ticks.
- plot_error.py - Plot with error bars and error fill area.
- plot_hist.py - Histogram plot with transparency.
- plot_cmap.py - Large scatter plot with a colormap.
- plot_meas_impedance.py - Plot impedance measurements.
- plot_meas_waveform.py - Plot oscilloscope waveforms.
- plot_mesh.py - 3D/2D plots of EM simulations.
- plot_notebook.ipynb - Plot with Jupyter notebook.
Folders
- fig_schemas - Examples of Inkscape figures (schematics / diagrams).
- fig_plots - Examples of Inkscape plots (with Python / Matplotlib).
- plot_data - Data for the example plots.
- img_data - Images for the readme file.

Operating systems
- Tested on Linux x86/64.
- Tested on MS Windows x86/64.
- Tested on Apple MacOS ARM64.
Software versions
- Tested with Python 3.12 / 3.13
- Tested with Inkscape 1.4.1.
Python dependencies
- Numpy / Matplotlib
- PyVista / Pillow
- JupyterLab (optional)
- List in requirements.txt.

(c) 2023-2025 - Thomas Guillod

BSD 2-Clause "Simplified" License