When saving a MATLAB figure with arrows and text as a PDF using print, the annotations are rescaled incorrectly, but using exportgraphics preserves the correct scaling

Hi everyone,

I'm encountering an issue when saving a figure in PDF format using MATLAB.

Here's the context: I create a figure and plot some data using the following code (Part from the code comes from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wP3jjk1O18A&t=383s&ab_channel=PhysicsLaure):

hfig = figure; % save the figure handle in a variable

stairs(Results2Coal.Power_demand,'LineWidth',1.5,'DisplayName','Load','Color',colorsScheme(13,:));

hold on

stairs(Results2Coal.P_generated_coal_1,'LineWidth',1.5,'DisplayName','G1','Color',colorsScheme(2,:));

stairs(Results2Coal.P_generated_coal_2,'LineWidth',1.5,'DisplayName','G2','Color',colorsScheme(9,:));

plot(Results2Coal.P_max_coal_2*ones(1,24),'LineWidth',0.5,'HandleVisibility','off','Color','k','LineStyle','--');

plot(Results2Coal.P_max_coal_1*ones(1,24),'LineWidth',0.5,'HandleVisibility','off','Color','k','LineStyle','--');

xlabel('time $t$ (h)')

ylabel('Power (MW)')

legend('Location', 'northwest','FontSize',12)

picturewidth = 20; % set this parameter and keep it forever

hw_ratio = 0.65; % feel free to play with this ratio

set(findall(hfig,'-property','FontSize'),'FontSize',12) % adjust fontsize to your document

axis([0 25 1000 8000])

set(gca,'YTick',[1000,1500, 2000,2685, 4000,5000,6000,7000, 8000]) % impose sensible tickmark locations

set(gca,'YTickLabel',{'1000', '$G1_{min}$','2000', '$G1_{max}$','4000','$G2_{max}$','6000','7000','8000'}) % put in informative labels at these tickmarks

set(gca,'XTick',[0, 4,8,12, 16,20, 24]) % impose sensible tickmark locations

set(gca,'XTickLabel',{'00:00', '04:00', '08:00','12:00', '16:00', '20:00', '24:00'}) %consistent tick interval

set(findall(hfig,'-property','Box'),'Box','off') % optional

set(findall(hfig,'-property','Interpreter'),'Interpreter','latex')

set(findall(hfig,'-property','TickLabelInterpreter'),'TickLabelInterpreter','latex')

set(hfig,'Units','centimeters','Position',[3 3 picturewidth hw_ratio*picturewidth])

pos = get(hfig,'Position');

set(hfig,'PaperPositionMode','Auto','PaperUnits','centimeters','PaperSize',[pos(3), pos(4)])

fname = ['CommitmentProblem with two power plants', datestr(now,'dd yyyy hhMM')];

print(hfig,fname,'-dpdf','-vector','-fillpage')

The problem arises when I use the figure menu to insert arrows and text (via Insert/Arrows and Insert/Text). These arrows and text appear correctly in the MATLAB figure window, but when I save the figure as a PDF, the arrows are rescaled and don't match the original placement.

If I save the figure as a .png file, the scaling is correct, and the arrows and text maintain their placement. However, I prefer to use the .pdf format for my figures.

When I use:

exportgraphics(hfig, [fname, '.pdf'], 'ContentType', 'vector');

This method works and preserves the correct scaling of arrows and text in the PDF.

Although this solves my problem, I am still curious to understand why the print function does not work as expected.

Has anyone experienced a similar problem or have any insights on why print causes this scaling issue while exportgraphics does not?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Answer 1

[Divyanshu]

Hi Georgi,

I think there are some issues expected when a image is saved using '-vector' option with 'print' function. The following documentation link provides more information on this:

https://www.mathworks.com/help/releases/R2022b/matlab/ref/print.html#bukyb6e-1-renderer

Hope it helps!