Scientific Figure Generator
Chat to edit scientific figures, from draft to publication-ready
About Scientific Figure Generator
Scientific Figure Generator (SFG) is a web app that turns a written description, a hand sketch, a reference image or a paper's abstract into a scientific illustration, then lets you refine it by chat. It is aimed at the explanatory figures researchers need all the time and rarely have time to draw: mechanism diagrams, signaling pathways, experimental workflows and graphical abstracts. Rather than assembling icons on a blank canvas, you describe the components, relationships, labels and layout you want, and an agent turns the brief into a plan, shows the credit cost for your approval and then draws a draft. When something is wrong, you circle the region and say what should change; the rest of the figure stays as it is, and the edit becomes a new connected version, so the original is never lost. Three visual styles are offered (line art, 3D render and flat illustration), and 60 scientific templates, covering subjects from virus capsids and tumor microenvironments to PEM fuel cells and subduction zones, can be adapted directly or used as a reference for your own study.
According to its Terms of Use, SFG is operated by Xiong Liangliang, an individual based in China, and generation runs through third-party AI services including Kie.ai. The site lists three image models on one credit balance: GPT Image 2.5 Flare (the default), GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst and GPT Image 2. It is unusually direct about its limits. Output is a PNG at 1K or 2K with a 2x upscale for print, PowerPoint export with editable text labels is in beta, editable SVG is not available, and the site repeats that AI helps with illustration, not scientific validation, so every label and arrow still has to be checked against your evidence. Pricing is freemium. New verified accounts get 5 free figures (30 credits at signup and 20 more the next day), and accounts without a subscription are then topped up to 10 credits a day, enough for one 1K figure. Basic costs $9.90 a month for 200 credits and Pro $49 a month for 1,400 credits, with yearly billing at $83.16 and $411.60, and one-time credit packs run from $9.90 to $179.
There are three ways to start. You can write a brief that names the mechanism, components, labels and layout; you can draw boxes, arrows and words on the sketch pad, which SFG reads and confirms back to you before it draws; or you can upload an existing figure to redraw or restyle, or open one of the templates. For a graphical abstract, you paste your abstract or choose the paper's PDF, which is read in your browser rather than uploaded. The agent proposes the context, approach and main finding in one sentence each, lists what it will draw and the short labels it will use, and shows the credit cost. Nothing is generated until you approve, and you can correct any part of the plan first.
The draft then opens on a canvas. On desktop you circle a region and type the change, for example "Make this T cell purple. Keep the labels", or ask for a more precise label, a reversed arrow or more space between panels. Each edit is saved as a connected version, so you can compare the original and its variations side by side and branch from whichever direction works best. When the figure is right, you download a PNG at 1K or 2K with no watermark, upscale it 2x for print, or try the PowerPoint export. A successful 1K generation or edit uses 10 credits and a 2K result uses 20, and credits are deducted only after an operation produces and saves a result.
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Three Starting Points - Begin from words, a sketch or a reference. A written brief becomes a plan and then a draft; the sketch pad lets you rough out boxes, arrows and words for SFG to interpret; and a reference image or one of the 60 templates gives you a layout to redraw or restyle for your own study. Templates come in all three styles, including examples such as an HPLC system, a single-cell RNA sequencing workflow and a MAPK/ERK cascade.
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Circle-to-Edit Refinement - Mark the part of the figure that needs work and describe the change in plain language. The site lists text and label edits, arrow and flow changes, layout and spacing adjustments, splitting layers, and removing backgrounds or objects. Only the marked area is meant to change, which avoids regenerating a whole figure to fix one word.
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Version History on the Canvas - Every edit is kept. The original stays preserved, each change becomes a connected version, and you can branch into alternatives such as a horizontal layout or grouped panels, compare them side by side and continue from the one you prefer.
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Graphical Abstract Maker - A dedicated flow reads your abstract text, drafts a context, approach and finding for approval, and draws a graphical abstract in Wide 21:9, Square 1:1 or Landscape 16:9. The site says it uses only claims stated in your abstract, shows numbers only exactly as you wrote them, and does not draw charts, plots or axes, because a drawn chart would imply values the abstract does not give. It also publishes a journal size table, checked October 12, 2026, for Elsevier and Cell Press formats.
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Label Check and Consistent Styling - A free label check flags likely misspellings and wrong terms in a finished figure, and a style locked from one figure can be applied to keep a set of figures consistent across a manuscript or slide deck.
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Publication Guidance - The site carries guides on writing figure prompts, preparing figures for publication, making a graphical abstract and citing AI-generated figures, with a reminder to check each journal's current policy on AI images before submission.
Scientific Figure Generator is built for researchers who need explanatory figures and do not want to learn an illustration program to make them: graduate students drafting a thesis chapter, postdocs preparing a lab meeting or conference poster, and principal investigators sketching a mechanism for a grant application. Templates and examples span biology, chemistry, materials science, engineering and earth science, and the graphical abstract maker is aimed at authors submitting to journals that require one.
The pricing suits people who make a handful of figures a month. The site's own comparison page quotes researchers who only need an illustration tool a few times a month, and the free daily top-up plus a $9.90 Basic plan or one-time packs fit that pattern better than a larger subscription. Research groups of three or more can ask about a Lab plan with one shared credit balance, paid by invoice, bank transfer or PayPal. It is less suited to work that needs component-level control over every symbol and connector, editable vector output or plotted data: the site itself points those cases to asset-based editors such as BioRender, and it is explicit that generated figures are drafts that a scientist must review before publication.
Pricing
$0 - $49/mo
- Free$0/mo
- Basic$9.90/mo
- Pro$49/mo
- Lab planContact sales
- Trial$9.90 once
- Spark$29 once
- Boost$69 once
- Creator$179 once
From the vendor pricing page, 2026-10-23
