Paper Graphics

Resources to help you make scientific figures for your robotics papers.

It mainly stores the assets used in a tutorial I prepared in 2023, and updated in 2025, which is constantly being improved.

Matias Mattamala (2025), "Effective Design of Graphics for (Robotics) Research" Online (Google Slides)

The tutorial summarizes the workflow I follow when making figures for my papers and other advice. The goal was on "low budget" solutions, using open-source or other free-to-use software tools instead of expensive professional software.

Other resources

(This section will be extended in the future)

• Software tools
  • Inkscape: Wonderful vector graphics software
  • Google Drawings: Easy diagrams from your Google account
  • draw.io: Easy to use though more advanced flowchart software
  • GIMP: Brilliant bitmap manipulation software
  • Science Plots: Python package to make science-styled plots
• Vector graphics
  • Inkscape: Wonderful vector graphics software
  • Bezier Game: Online game to learn to use the Pen tool in Inkscape (and other vector graphics software)
  • Map Chart: To generate colored maps with highlighted countries
  • Latex Drawing: Examples on how to design figures with TikZ
• Colors
  • Claus O. Wilke (2019), "Fundamentals of Data Visualization"
  • DaltonLens: Color blindness simulator
  • David Nichols, "Coloring for Colorblindness"
  • Tint and Shade Generator: To make tint (lighter) or shade (darker) variations of a set of hexadecimal colors
  • Scientific Colour Maps
• Other technical resources
  • PSL Explore Tutorials on Graphics
  • Marco Verna, "Resolution, PPI and DPI for photographers"
• Other tutorials on designing scientific figures
  • Peter Fankhauser (2018), "Graphic and Video Editing for Scientific Publications"
  • Alice Chen Kitterman (2021), "Designing an effective graphic abstract"
  • Nataliya Rokhmanova, Andrew K. Schulz (2023), "Explaining scientific findings through figures in publications, presentations, and posters "
  • Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research, "Exploratory Graphics - Guiding Principles Cheat Sheet"
  • Nice reporitory with styles for scientific plots: garrettj403/SciencePlots
• Presentation tools
  • Projecteur: To spotlight parts of your screen
    • Installation instructions: link
      • Ubuntu 20.04
      • curl -1sLf 'https://dl.cloudsmith.io/public/jahnf/projecteur-develop/cfg/gpg/gpg.544E6934C0570750.key' | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/jahnf-projecteur-develop-archive-keyring.gpg
      • curl -1sLf 'https://dl.cloudsmith.io/public/jahnf/projecteur-develop/cfg/setup/config.deb.txt?distro=ubuntu&codename=bionic' > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/jahnf-projecteur-develop.list
      • sudo apt update
      • sudo apt install projecteur
      • Add Ubuntu shortcut to: projecteur -c spot=toggle
  • ScreenPointer: Same as Projecteur, but for Mac
  • Key-mon: To show your mouse actions on the screen
  • ScreenKey: It shows what keyboard keys you are pressing (full sequence, but not mouse)
  • pdfpc: Software to present PDFs as slides, with pointer and annotation features (Thanks to Santeri Heiskanen for the link)
• LaTex
  • LatexIt: To seamlessly copy LaTex-rendered equations into Keynote (Thanks to Joao Carvalho for the pointer)

License

All the images in assets are designed or photographed by me, except from:

• intel_d435i.png, from Intel
• microstrain_gx5_imu.png, from Microstrain