Sizing issues when exporting figures with exportgraphics on MacBook Pro 14" (Sonoma)

I'm having issues exporting figures to a certain size in PDF format.

I'm using a MBP 14" running macOS Sonoma, and MATLAB R2024a, Update 4 with the New Desktop for MATLAB (Beta), but the error is the same in the standard desktop. The fact that MATLAB uses a standard DPI size for macOS of 72 confuses me, but I assume that there is some upscaling going on, since my screen is 3024 x 1964 but MATLAB's ScreenSize property is only 1512x982.

However, when trying to display an image with a width of 20cm, the output figure, as well as the exported PDF is only 8.6cm wide.

width = 20;
height = 7.25;

set(groot, "defaultTextInterpreter", "latex");
set(groot, "defaultLegendInterpreter", "latex");
set(groot, "defaultAxesTickLabelInterpreter", "latex");
set(groot, "defaultFigureUnits", "centimeters");
set(groot, "defaultFigurePosition", [2, 2, width, height]);
set(groot, "defaultAxesFontSize", 11);
set(groot, "defaultLegendFontSize", 11);
set(groot, "defaultLineLineWidth", 1.25);
set(groot, "defaultStemLineWidth", 1.25);

After this, I create a figure with the figure command. To finally save the image, I use:

exportgraphics(fig, path, "ContentType", "vector");

Is this a Bug on macOS on newer machines?

[Bastian Lehnert]

I have the same issue with my mac. When exporting with an image width of 113 mm the pdf is 60.8 mm.

I checked the properties of the figure and the and Position(3) is 113 mm (also checked the unit).

[Bastian Lehnert]

Same issue for me. Font size and everything is correct but the overall plot size is wrong. When running on windows, no issues

Answer 1

[Divyanshu]

Hi Daniel,

I tried to reproduce the issue with my MAC but was getting the pdf as expected and did not encounter the issue.

However, as a workaround you can try to use either 'print' or 'saveas' function to export figure as a pdf, instead of 'exportgraphics'.

Please refer the following documentation links for more details:

• 'print' - https://www.mathworks.com/help/matlab/ref/print.html#bukyb6e-1-formattype
• 'saveas' - https://www.mathworks.com/help/matlab/ref/saveas.html#buou9ii-formattype
• Comparison between different ways to export graphics from figures - https://www.mathworks.com/help/matlab/creating_plots/compare-ways-to-export-save-graphics-plots-from-figures.html

And for the issue you are facing with 'exportgraphics', I would suggest to reach out to MathWorks Support:

https://www.mathworks.com/support/contact_us.html

Hope it helps!

[Daniel]

@Divyanshu But does it also display the figure on the desktop in the correct size?