I would like to copy a matlab figure to my clipboard so I can paste it in Powerpoint as a vector graphic

I would like to copy a matlab figure to my clipboard so I can paste it in Powerpoint as a vector graphic. This is usually very simple, I just choose "metafile" in the cop options. More recently I tried the same thing getting this error message:

Error using print (line 82)

Unable to copy the figure to the clipboard. Increasing the Java Heap Size setting in the MATLAB preferences may

help; otherwise try saving to a file or choose a different clipboard format.

Error in matlab.graphics.internal.copyFigureHelper (line 158)

print(argsToPrint{:});

Error in editmenufcn (line 69)

matlab.graphics.internal.copyFigureHelper(hfig)

Error while evaluating Menu Callback.

I followed the suggestion and increased the Java thingy, up to 4 GB, still same problem. The weird thing is, it's actually a rather simple image of only 7 MB. I'd be happy to upload the .fig file here if possible.

I also met this problem in MATLAB 2021b.

But the problem is gone when I copy the same figure in MATLAB 2018b. But I want to know how to solve this problem in MATLAB 2021b.

Any hints what the problem might be?

Thanks,

Toby

[Anton Kogios]

In the figure window, maybe try this as a workaround instead of using the clipboard: File > Save As > Select .svg as the format > Import the saved .svg into PowerPoint.

[Fanyun]

Thank you very much for your reply, but after trying, svg format can't be imported into PPT. In the 2018a version, it can be successfully pasted into PPT by copying the window. Even if this picture contains a lot of detailed data, why is the version above 2020 wrong? I think this is a common problem that everyone will encounter. If you or everyone has other new solutions, please don't hesitate to continue the discussion. Thank you in advance.

[Anton Kogios]

I am not encountering this issue in R2022b on a MacBook Pro with M1 Pro. Are you sure you cannot import the svg file into PPT. I can do it by copy-pasting the file itself from Finder to PowerPoint (and copying the figure window directly to clipboard).

Maybe if you are able to post your code for a figure with a lot of detailed data, that may help someone diagnose the problem (and your system information may also be helpful).

[Fanyun]

I tried again that only one icon was displayed after svg was imported into PPT, and this svg format file was still lost after being opened with a browser, not a vector diagram.（Win11, Matlab 2021b ,PPT 2016 Pro）

[Anton Kogios]

I think there may be issues with importing svg formats in PPT 2016, but I guess if it works with other less complex figures then maybe not (see https://stackoverflow.com/questions/44098870/microsoft-office-2016-how-to-import-svg and https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/msoffice/forum/all/powerpoint-2016-svg-fails-to-import-correctly/20d2dd54-e15e-4b80-bbf0-ce5dda8f8636). Either way, I would suggest trying to update PPT if possible.

If you want vector graphics in PPT, you can also try saving as an .eps file and then importing to PPT. This works for me. To save as .eps, you can go to Save As like before, or use this command:

exportgraphics(gcf,'poor.eps','ContentType','vector')

[Fanyun]

Thank you very much for your reply. eps can meet my needs. Thank you.

Answer 1

[Ravi]

I understand that you are trying to export your plots in svg format and add that image to your ppt.

Below steps may help you save your plots as svg.

1. Click on save button from your plot.

2. Select svg from the drop down menu in save-as pane.

3. Drag and drop this file to your ppt file.

[Fanyun]

Answer 2

[Image Analyst]

Did you try copygraphics?

help copygraphics

  COPYGRAPHICS Copy plot or graphics content to clipboard
    COPYGRAPHICS(OBJ) copies the specified graphics to the clipboard
    OBJ is the handle of any type of an axes, a figure, a chart that can 
    be a child of the figure, a tiled chart layout, or a container within 
    the figure.
 
    COPYGRAPHICS(___, OPTIONS) copies the graphics to the clipboard, applying  
    the specified OPTIONS. OPTIONS is one or more of the following 
    name-value pairs. 
 
    'ContentType', CONTENTTYPE  how to generate content when copying in vector format
    CONTENTTYPE can be one of the following values
    - 'vector' to generate vectorized (scalable) output 
    - 'image'  to generate rasterized output (embed image) 
    - 'auto'   allow MATLAB heuristic to decide
    The default value is 'auto'
 
    'Resolution', DPI  specifies output resolution for images. DPI must be
    a positive whole number. The default value is 150
  
    'BackgroundColor', COLORSPEC  specifies the color to use as the background 
    COLORSPEC can be one of the following values
    - a color name, such as 'red', or 'w'
    - an RGB triplet, such as [1 0 0] or [1 1 1]
    - a hexadecimal color code, such as '#FFF' or '#FFFFFF')
    - 'none' to use either a white or transparent background, depending on 
       what the output format supports 
    - 'current' to use the graphic's current background color
    The default value is 'white' 
 
    'Colorspace', COLORSPACE  the color space to use when generating output
    COLORSPACE can be one of the following values
    - 'rgb'  generates RGB true color output
    - 'gray' generates grayscale output
    The default value is 'rgb'
 
    Example: Copy a plot to clipboard
       plot(rand(3)); 
       copygraphics(gca); 
 
    Example: Copy a plot to the clipboard and ensure output is vectorized/scalable 
       plot(rand(3)); 
       copygraphics(gca, 'ContentType', 'vector');
 
    Example: Copy a plot to the clipboard as an image 
       plot(rand(3)); 
       copygraphics(gca, 'ContentType', 'image');
 
    Example: Copy a specific plot from figure to the clipboard
       fig = figure; 
       ax1 = subplot(2,1,1); bar(magic(4));
       ax2 = subplot(2,1,2); plot(rand(4));
       copygraphics(ax2); 
 
    Example: Copy all plots from figure to the clipboard
       fig = figure; 
       subplot(2,1,1); bar(magic(4));
       subplot(2,1,2); plot(rand(4));
       copygraphics(fig); 
  
    Example: Copy a plot to the clipboard using grayscale colors
       plot(rand(3)); 
       copygraphics(gca, 'Colorspace', 'gray');
  
    See also EXPORTGRAPHICS, EXPORTAPP

    Documentation for copygraphics
       doc copygraphics

[Fanyun]

it says: warning :Vectorized content may take a long time to create, or may contain unexpected results. Set' ContentType' to' image' to improve performance.

error：Wrong use of copygraphics

Cannot copy the drawing window to the clipboard. It may be helpful to increase the Java heap size setting in MATLAB preset; Otherwise, try saving to a file or choosing a different clipboard format.

[Image Analyst]

OK, but what if you create a pixel image at full size of the screen? Isn't that enough resolution for your needs?

[Fanyun]

Yes, the full-screen resolution can meet my needs. What I'm puzzled about now is that Matlab 2018 can easily copy vector pictures into PPT by using copyfigure, but Matlab 2021 will prompt that the same figure can't be copied, and it needs increase the Java heap size. At present, it can only be solved by saving it as eps and then importing a file in eps format, but the saved eps file size is very large.

[Fanyun]

Indeed, if the full screen size is not used, this error will not occur and the vector diagram can be copied smoothly.