Figures

All illustrations, whether line drawings or photographs, are considered figures. GSA prefers electronic files but sometimes may have to scan clean hard copy if the files are unusable. To ensure the best possible results, please prepare art for illustrations according to the following guidelines.

 General Guidelines for All Figures

• Compare the look and style of your art with figures in recent Bulletin articles.
• Submit figures as close to final size as possible (see sizing guidelines under "Style").
• All figures should be final and submitted both electronically and on high-quality laser print paper. Be sure your disk file contains only final figures.
• For photographs, you may send photocopies for review purposes, but for final submission, electronic files should be provided in high-quality .tif format.
• Keep at least one "original quality" copy of all figures. GSA cannot be responsible for material that is lost or damaged in the mail.
• Label all figures (both hardcopy and electronic file) with author name, figure number, and file extension, outside of the image area.
• If figure is to be printed in color, provide high-quality color printouts.
• If illustrations are reproduced without change from another publication, acknowledgments must be clearly made. The burden is on the author to obtain copyright clearance if necessary. The following conventional designations should be noted: "after"-possible redrafting but no change in information; "modified from"-some change; "adapted from"-radical changes.

Please read GSA's Ethical Guidelines for Publication

Detailed submission instructions for authors are available at the GSA Bulletin Online Manuscript Submission Web site.

If you have never visited the site before, you must register in order to use it. Registration is free. If you have registered before, enter your login name and password. On the subsequent screen, choose "Author Instructions".

You may also download the PDF version of Author Information.

Reader is free from Adobe.

General

Style

Electronic

Fill Patterns

Loose Inserts / Supplements

 Style Guidelines

• Lines and Labels in Graphs, Maps and Legends
• Use clean black lines, no finer than 1 point and no greater than 2 points.

  1 pt. Line

  2 pt. Line

• On maps, please include latitude (°N, °S) and longitude (°W, °E), a north arrow, and a scale in kilometers.
• Graphs must have all axes and lines labeled.
• General titles of illustrations should appear in the figure caption, not in the figure itself.
• Lettering
• Use a clear, sans serif typeface (Helvetica or Arial).
• All lettering should be between 7 point and 12 point type size.
• Try to keep all text in a figure (including axis labels, contour labels, latitutde and longitude, scale text, inset text, etc.) around the same size to aid reducibility and/or enlargement.
• Avoid making the lettering too large for the figure. This can result in a "cartoonish" appearance.
• Avoid the use of boldface lettering because the open spaces in the letters tend to fill in when reduced.
• Place a white background behind lettering that crosses a dark or textured area in a figure.
• Sizing
• Do not size smaller or larger than these dimensions

  	Inches	Picas	Centimeters
  Three-column width	2-1/3	14	5.93
  Two-column width	3-1/2	21	8.9
  Page width	7-1/8	43	18.1
  Page depth	9-1/2	56-1/2	22.5

General

Style

Electronic

Fill Patterns

Loose Inserts / Supplements

 Electronic Figures

Online Submission and Revision
Electronic figure/photo files should be in TIF, GIF, JPG, PDF, Postscript, or EPS format and should be clearly labeled (both hardcopy and electronic file) with author name, figure number, and file extension, outside of the image area.

Once Accepted-Publication-Quality Figures
Once your manuscript has been accepted, you will be asked to provide publication-quality graphics. We require two electronic files for each figure, one in the program in which it was created and one EPS or TIF file (with the exception of Freehand). We will also ask for scannable hard copies to be mailed with the electronic files. Generally, halftones should not be scanned at higher than 600 dpi (dots per inch); line art is usually good at 1200 dpi.

The following native formats work best, as long as the version of the application is noted and the file is labeled with the correct extension: Corel Draw = .cdr, Canvas = .cvs, Freehand = .fh, Illustrator = .ai, and Photoshop = .psd. If you create either .tif or .eps files, they must be between 300 and 600 dpi resolution. Label figure files with author name, figure number, and extension. Make sure that the hard copy of the figure that you send matches the electronic file of the figure. Files created in any application other than those listed above should be saved as a .tif or .eps. We do NOT accept low-resolution (72 dpi) images.

Acceptable Software

• Adobe Illustrator (.ai) Files. This is the most preferable file format. However, this refers to figures actually created in Illustrator, not figures that were created in another program and then imported to Illustrator.
• Canvas (.cvs) Files. Only Canvas 5 or newer is accepted.
• Freehand (.fh) Files. It is best to supply "native" Freehand files.
• Corel Draw (.cdr) Files. Most files can be used with few problems.
• Photoshop (.psd) Files. Most Photoshop files can be used with few problems, just make sure that the resolution is between 300 and 600 dpi.

Best Resolution

Line art with no screening, just black, should be saved as 1200 dpi at 100% size. Line art that has halftone screens or photos should be saved as 600 dpi at 100% size. Photos alone should be saved as 300 dpi (or more). Color images should be saved as 350 dpi at 100% size.

Placed/Imported images

All images that have been placed or imported into your figure file must accompany this file on disk (i.e., if you import a photograph into illustrator called photo.tif, you must supply this photo.tif electronic file along with your Illustrator file).

Digital Camera images

Files created by digital cameras are accepted only if they are submitted in .tif format and are scaled to 100% at 300-600 dpi. (Be sure that your camera is set for highest resolution for best results.) We do not accept 72 dpi photos.

Invisible Elements

Many graphics files contain unnecessary "invisible" elements. These are sometimes imported graphics that the creator of the file has traced over and then set not to print. To save out printer time, it is best to delete the unnecessary element rather than just set it not to print.

Color

If you would like your figure printed in color, please include a color printout with your submission. The cost for color is ~$800 per page. Authors are responsible for all costs associated with printing in color. Color graphics should be saved as CMYK. Please note: the colors from a LaserWriter or ink-jet printer will not match the colors on the final four-color printer copy.

General

Style

Electronic

Fill Patterns

Loose Inserts / Supplements

 Fill Patterns for scannable artwork

• If possible, use hatched patterns instead of dot fill patterns. When fine or smooth fills are scanned, mottled patterns often result.
• Dot fills must be between 20% and 70% black. The scanner "sees" <20% black as white and >70% black as black.
• Any fills that represent different values in the same illustration must differ by at least 20%. For example, fills that are 20% black and 30% must not be used on the same figure, but fills that are 30% black and 50% black are acceptable for use on the same figure.

General

Style

Electronic

Fill Patterns

Loose Inserts / Supplements

 Loose Inserts/Supplements

Loose inserts/supplements (maps, seismic reflections, cross sections, etc.) may be included. Sheets may be printed on one or both sides. Authors must provide both electronic file and hardcopy, sized to the exact publication size. Two sizes of inserts are available. Authors must pay all costs for inserts. These costs include press preparation, printing, folding, handling, and inserting. For questions on loose inserts, contact the Managing Editor

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