Graphics |
Resolution refers to how accurately your figure is rendered when printed or exported. Higher resolutions produce higher quality output. The specific definition of resolution depends on whether your figure is output as a bitmap or as a vector graphic.
You can change the resolution that MATLAB uses to print a figure:
Default Resolution and When You Can Change It
The default resolution depends on the renderer used and the graphics format or printer driver specified. The following two tables summarize the default resolutions and whether you can change them.
Choosing a Setting
You might need to determine your resolution requirements through experimentation, but you can also use the following guidelines.
For Printing. The default resolution of 150 dpi is normally adequate for typical laser-printer output. However, if you are preparing figures for high-quality printing, such as a textbook or color brochures, you might want to use 200 or 300 dpi. The resolution you can use can be limited by the printer's capabilities.
For Exporting. If you are exporting your figure, base your decision on the resolution supported by the final output device. For example, if you will import your figure into a word processing document and print it on a printer that supports a maximum resolution setting of 300 dpi, you could export your figure using 300 dpi to get a precise one-to-one correspondence between pixels in the file and dots on the paper.
Impact of Resolution on Size and Memory Needed
Resolution affects file size and memory requirements. For both printing and exporting, the higher the resolution setting, the longer it takes for MATLAB or your printer to render your figure.
Using the Graphical User Interface on Windows
To set the resolution for built-in MATLAB printer drivers on Windows systems,
Using the Graphical User Interface on UNIX
To set the resolution for built-in MATLAB printer drivers on UNIX systems,
Using MATLAB Commands
If you use a Windows printer driver, you can only set the resolution using the Windows Document Properties dialog box.
Otherwise, to set the resolution for printing or exporting, the syntax is
where number
is the number of dots per inch. To print or export a figure using screen resolution, set number
to 0
(zero).
This example prints the current figure with a resolution of 100 dpi:
This example exports the current figure to a TIFF file using screen resolution:
Selecting a Renderer | Setting the Axes Ticks and Limits |
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