Graphical Abstract Size & Requirements by Publisher

Few things waste more time than designing a beautiful graphical abstract only to have it bounced at upload for the wrong dimensions. Every major publisher has its own rules, and they differ more than you would expect. This guide collects the current size, resolution, format, and text requirements for the biggest publishers in one place — but always confirm against your specific journal's guide for authors, since individual titles vary and rules change.

Quick comparison

Elsevier

Elsevier requires a minimum of 1328 × 531 pixels (width × height) at a minimum of 300 dpi, keeping the same 5:2 ratio if you go larger. On ScienceDirect the image is scaled into a 500 × 200 pixel window, so anything too detailed becomes unreadable — design for that small display. Preferred fonts are Times, Arial, Courier, or Symbol, and accepted file types are TIFF, EPS, PDF, or MS Office files.

ACS (American Chemical Society)

ACS uses one image as the table-of-contents/abstract graphic. It must fit within roughly 3.25 × 1.75 inches (about 975 × 525 pixels at 300 dpi), submitted as TIFF at 300 dpi for colour or 1200 dpi for black-and-white line art. Use a sans-serif font such as Helvetica or Arial, ideally 8 pt and never below 6 pt. The upload system validates dimensions, so off-spec files are rejected automatically.

Wiley

Wiley graphical abstracts typically allow up to 50 words (around 450 characters with spaces) plus an image sized either 5.5 × 5.0 cm or 11.5 × 2.5 cm (width × height), with a minimum font of 6–7 pt. For the separate table-of-contents graphic, many Wiley journals ask the image to fit within about 50 × 60 mm and remain fully legible at that size. Chemistry titles such as Angewandte have their own detailed graphics guidelines worth checking.

RSC (Royal Society of Chemistry)

RSC graphical abstracts should be a maximum of 8 cm wide × 4 cm high, and they encourage using the full space. Supply the figure as a TIFF at 600 dpi or higher, with accompanying text of one to two sentences and no more than about 250 characters.

Springer Nature

Springer Nature does not publish a single universal pixel specification; requirements depend heavily on the individual journal, and not all Nature-family titles use graphical abstracts. Their guidance emphasises clarity, simplicity, and visual impact over fixed numbers. For these journals especially, read the specific journal's submission instructions, and when in doubt design at a high resolution (300 dpi) with legible, sans-serif text so you can adapt to whatever size they request.

Rules that apply everywhere

Whatever the publisher, a few habits keep you safe: design at 300 dpi (600 for RSC) from the start, build at the exact target dimensions rather than scaling up later, keep text minimal and legible at thumbnail size, use a clean sans-serif font, and export in the format the journal specifies. Above all, check the current guide for authors for your exact journal — these specifications change, and the numbers here are a starting point, not a substitute for the official instructions.

Related reading: How to Create a Graphical Abstract in Blender and DPI, TIFF & CMYK Explained.