Background

To maintain quality, integrity, and aesthetics, vector graphic formats such as PDF or EPS are generally preferred for artwork and data visualizations over raster (pixel-based) formats such as png, gif, or jpeg. The reason becomes especially apparent at high magnification. As shown in the extreme example below, vector formats maintain smooth curves (left), while raster formats become pixelated (right).

There are many reasons to want high quality graphics embedded in a document; my issue was that unlike the main article of a peer-reviewed scientific publication, the Supplementary / Supporting Information is often not edited for style or typeset by the journal. This leaves the author responsible for incorporating supplementary figures as high quality graphics.

Challenge

Microsoft Word does not allow PDF or (as of April 11, 2017) EPS files to be embedded in a document.

Solutions

The most appealing solution for users of Microsoft Word: Export graphics in the Enhanced MetaFile .emf format using Adobe Illustrator or Inkscape and Insert them as Pictures in Word. When the Word document is then saved as a PDF, the graphics are rendered appropriately in a high-quality, vector format.

Alternatively, LaTeX can be used to generate a PDF that contains the supplementary text, figures, and captions. For an idea of how this can be done, see my GitHub Stanford LaTeX thesis template repository. Understandably, however, this may be too much effort and may not be compatible with an iterative revision process with coauthors unfamiliar with LaTeX.

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This work by Derek Croote is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0