Saving Custom Sized Graphs in MATLAB

I have recently been trying to create a custom-sized graph in MATLAB and save it automatically using the saveas function. I am having issues saving the files in the size that I create them.

Roughly speaking, my code is as follows:

    mygraph = figure('Position',[1,20,1280,1024]);
    %creates a figure positioned 1 px from the left of the screen, 20 px from the bottom of the screen, that is 1280 px in length and 1024 px in height

    % some code to create graph

    saveas(mygraph,'mygraphfilename','emf')
    % saves figure as mygraphfilename.emf.

So far, the code above can create a custom-sized graph on my screen, but it seems to save the pictures in a default size. The weird thing is that if I do not use the saveas function and save the figure manually, then the image retains its size.

For clarification purposes, I'm currently saving the graphs as emf, though I'm also open to using jpg/png/bmp if works fine too.

Answer 1

[Patrick Kalita]

I would suggest two things. First, use the print command instead of saveas because it gives you more control. Second, use the PaperPosition property instead of Position to control how big the exported graphic is.

Here's a quick example of exporting a 1280-by-1024 PNG-file:

% Draw your scene
plot(1:10);

% Control the output size using 'PaperPosition' -- note the 200 here... that will show up again as our output resolution. 
set(gcf, 'PaperUnits', 'inches', 'PaperPosition', [0 0 1280 1024]/200);

% Note the -r200 -- we're telling it to export at 200 pixels-per-inch
print -dpng -r200 MyGraph.png

I tried the same thing with the -dmeta option (for generating an EMF-file), but it, err, didn't create the right size file. I think that might be because EMF -- since it can include both vector and bitmap content -- doesn't honor the pixels-per-inch setting the same way as a purely bitmap format.

[Berk Ustun]

Thank you for this! Using print definitely works with png/bmp files so that solves my issue, though I'll try some of the vector based graphics contained in the export_fig package.

Answer 2

[Walter Roberson]

Please try the MATLAB File Exchange contribution export_fig .

[Berk Ustun]

Fantastic!

Answer 3

[Chetan Rawal]

There is more insight on custom printing for dimensions in the following link:

 http://www.mathworks.com/support/solutions/en/data/1-16WME/index.html?product=ML&solution=1-16WME