Creation of scientific illustrations in the life sciences
High-quality scientific illustrations are a central element of publications in the life sciences. They help to clearly communicate complex biological relationships and increase the comprehensibility and visual quality of manuscripts, posters, and presentations. In addition to experimental data (e.g., microscopy images or diagrams), schematic illustrations—such as those of signaling pathways, experimental designs, or cellular processes—play an important role. Furthermore, graphical abstracts are increasingly required to summarize key messages in a single, easily comprehensible illustration. They should be particularly concise, self-explanatory, and visually clear, as they are often viewed independently of the main text (e.g., in tables of contents or on social media).
General information
Each illustration should have a clearly defined message. Reduce content to the essentials and avoid unnecessary details. Labels must be clear, legible, and consistent (e.g., use the same fonts, abbreviations, and color conventions across all illustrations). Use:
- a limited color palette,
- consistent line thicknesses and symbol styles (especially when using graphics from different databases),
- vector formats (e.g., SVG, PDF) to avoid quality loss.
Software tools for scientific illustrations
Commercial tools such as BioRender are widely used in the life sciences because they offer a large library of biological icons and templates and are specifically tailored to publications. However, there are also a number of free tools and resources that allow researchers without a design background to quickly create attractive, royalty-free graphics.
High-quality free vector icons can be found in the following databases, for example:
Open-source tools such as InkScape or GIMP are available for creating graphics.