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Scientific Figure Generator logoSFG3 free figures

Illustrations for papers, posters, grants and talks

AI Scientific Figure Generator

Paste a paragraph or the abstract of your paper. See the plan before any credit is spent, fix one region at a time, check every label, and export an editable file with the disclosure your journal asks for.

How it works, replayed from a real run

New chat

New chat

Your ideas start hereAgent results appear on this canvas automatically.

0 itemFind latest
−100%+

Paste the paragraph. Approve the plan. Get the draft.

A results paragraph goes in as written. The agent shows its plan, the model and the price first; nothing is charged until you press Generate.

Real run: the first draft took 45 s and 10 credits, then the agent reviewed its own figure against the paragraph. Replayed from a run on 28 October 2026; the figures, texts and label check are the ones it produced.

Now try it with a paragraph from your paper.

Real outputs from the 60 templates, each with the prompt that made it.

All templates →
Line art scientific figure: HPLC system
HPLC systemLine art · Analytical chemistry
3D render scientific figure: Virus capsid
Virus capsid3D render · Structural virology
Flat scientific figure: Vaccine immune response
Vaccine immune responseFlat · Immunology
Line art scientific figure: Photosynthesis light reactions
Photosynthesis light reactionsLine art · Plant biology
3D render scientific figure: Perovskite solar cell
Perovskite solar cell3D render · Photovoltaics
Flat scientific figure: Enzyme kinetics
Enzyme kineticsFlat · Biochemistry
Line art scientific figure: Subduction zone
Subduction zoneLine art · Geology
3D render scientific figure: PEM fuel cell
PEM fuel cell3D render · Electrochemistry
Flat scientific figure: Water treatment
Water treatmentFlat · Environmental engineering
Line art scientific figure: Cardiac circulation
Cardiac circulationLine art · Physiology
3D render scientific figure: Bioreactor
Bioreactor3D render · Bioprocess engineering
Flat scientific figure: Exoplanet photometry
Exoplanet photometryFlat · Astronomy
Line art scientific figure: Droplet flow focusing
Droplet flow focusingLine art · Microfluidics
3D render scientific figure: Crystal defects
Crystal defects3D render · Materials science
60 templates
Real outputs, each with the prompt that made it.
10 publishers
AI-image rules, read from each publisher on 28 October 2026.
3 of 68 labels
Flagged by the free label check on a real figure from this account, as replayed above.

Scope

What it draws, and what it does not.

An image generator illustrates. It never supplies evidence. Knowing the line keeps your figures honest and saves you a wasted first try.

It draws explanatory figures

  • Mechanisms and pathways, with arrows whose meaning you define.
  • Experimental designs, workflows and pipelines.
  • Devices, apparatus and materials in cutaway or exploded view.
  • Graphical abstracts and TOC graphics at your journal’s size.

It does not make data

  • Charts and plots: use your analysis software; a drawn chart implies values you never measured.
  • Micrographs, blots, gels and scans, or edits to real experimental images.
  • Exact maps and atomically exact molecular models.
  • Anything a reader could mistake for an observation.

Refine

The same figure, three more edits.

The figure from the first screen, changed three more ways in the same chat: a label, an arrow, a box. Each is one message or one click, 10 credits, and a new version beside the last; the earlier ones stay on the canvas, and the next edit can start from any of them.

Change a label, keep the drawing.

Edit text reads every label in the figure and lists them; you retype the ones that should change. Only that text is redrawn.

Text edit · 1 change

1. “No nuclear translocation” → “NF-κB retained in cytoplasm”

Job settings

01

Image text edit

GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst · 3:2 · 1k

Started from the editor · 10 credits

The text edit has been submitted and returned — the label in the left panel now reads "NF-κB retained in cytoplasm" in place of "No nuclear translocation", with the rest of the figure unchanged.

Before: TNF-α panel with IκBα released for degradation
TNF-α panel with IκBα released for degradation1 version
The NF-κB figure with the left-panel label changed to “NF-κB retained in cytoplasm”; everything else as before
Image text edit
3 itemsFind latest
−100%+

Real run on 29 October 2026: 77 s and 10 credits; the message, the card, the reply and both figures are the ones from that chat.

Try with your figure The first figure needs no account.

Before you submit

Built for the review, not just the picture.

The four things reviewers and editors ask about an AI-drawn figure, each one click from the canvas.

Examples

Scientific figure generator examples

Six of the 60 templates, each with the prompt that made it. Open one in the library to edit it, or use it as the reference for a figure of your own.

  • Cutaway 3D icosahedral virus capsid showing capsomeres and enclosed nucleic-acid genome

    Icosahedral Virus Capsid Cutaway

    Structural Virology

    The prompt

    Create a publication-ready scientific diagram of Icosahedral Virus Capsid Cutaway for Structural Virology. Render a centered icosahedral capsid with one wedge removed, expose the genome inside, and add a magnified capsomere assembly inset. Use clear directional arrows to show the main relationships and flow. Label capsid, capsomere, fivefold axis, threefold axis, genome, envelope absence, cutaway plane, and particle diameter. Use muted teal capsid, navy genome, cool gray shadows, and a small coral cutaway accent on a clean white background with precise, legible typography, balanced spacing, and no decorative elements or watermark.

    Open in the library →

  • MAPK ERK signaling cascade from growth-factor receptor activation to nuclear transcriptional response

    MAPK/ERK Cascade

    Signal Transduction

    The prompt

    Create a publication-ready scientific diagram of MAPK/ERK Cascade for Signal Transduction. Build a top-to-bottom signaling hierarchy from extracellular growth factor and receptor through RAS, RAF, MEK, ERK, nuclear entry, and transcription-factor activation. Use clear directional arrows to show the main relationships and flow. Label growth factor, receptor tyrosine kinase, GRB2, SOS, RAS-GTP, RAF, MEK, ERK, nucleus, transcription factor, proliferation, and differentiation. Use navy, teal, muted violet, pale gray compartments, and orange phosphorylation marks on a clean white background with precise, legible typography, balanced spacing, and no decorative elements or watermark.

    Open in the library →

  • Tumor microenvironment cross-section with cancer cells, immune cells, fibroblasts, vessels, and signaling interactions

    Tumor Microenvironment

    Tumor Immunology

    The prompt

    Create a publication-ready scientific diagram of Tumor Microenvironment for Tumor Immunology. Center a tumor nest around an abnormal vessel, distribute stromal and immune cell types by compartment, and connect activating or suppressive interactions with distinct arrow styles. Use clear directional arrows to show the main relationships and flow. Label cancer cell, cytotoxic T cell, regulatory T cell, macrophage, dendritic cell, cancer-associated fibroblast, endothelial cell, extracellular matrix, hypoxia, cytokine, and immune checkpoint. Use muted coral tumor, teal immune cells, violet stroma, blue vessel, and pale gray matrix on a clean white background with precise, legible typography, balanced spacing, and no decorative elements or watermark.

    Open in the library →

  • 3D microfluidic organ-on-chip figure with fluid inlets, cell chambers, detection zone, and outlet

    Microfluidic Organ-on-Chip

    Bioengineering

    The prompt

    Create a publication-ready scientific diagram of Microfluidic Organ-on-Chip for Bioengineering. Use an isometric exploded view with transparent microchannels above a substrate, then magnify the membrane-separated cell chambers and sensing region. Use clear directional arrows to show the main relationships and flow. Label medium inlet, vascular channel, tissue chamber, porous membrane, sensor zone, outlet, flow direction, and cultured cells. Use transparent cyan, muted coral cells, white polymer, and soft slate hardware on a clean white background with precise, legible typography, balanced spacing, and no decorative elements or watermark.

    Open in the library →

  • Single-cell RNA sequencing workflow from tissue dissociation and droplet capture to clustering and marker analysis

    Single-Cell RNA-Seq Workflow

    Single-Cell Genomics

    The prompt

    Create a publication-ready scientific diagram of Single-Cell RNA-Seq Workflow for Single-Cell Genomics. Build a horizontal workflow from tissue and dissociated cells through droplet barcoding, reverse transcription, library sequencing, count matrix, dimensionality reduction, clusters, and marker interpretation. Use clear directional arrows to show the main relationships and flow. Label tissue, dissociation, viable cell, droplet, cell barcode, UMI, cDNA, sequencing reads, gene-cell matrix, UMAP, cluster, and marker gene. Use navy, teal, cyan droplets, muted violet clusters, and warm marker accents on a clean white background with precise, legible typography, balanced spacing, and no decorative elements or watermark.

    Open in the library →

  • Semiconductor heterojunction energy-band diagram comparing type I, type II, and type III alignments

    Semiconductor Heterojunction Band Alignment

    Electronic Materials

    The prompt

    Create a publication-ready scientific diagram of Semiconductor Heterojunction Band Alignment for Electronic Materials. Create three aligned energy-band panels for straddling, staggered, and broken-gap heterojunctions with common energy axes and carrier-transfer arrows. Use clear directional arrows to show the main relationships and flow. Label material A, material B, conduction band, valence band, band gap, electron affinity, Fermi level, electron, hole, type I, type II, and type III. Use navy and teal band edges, warm orange electrons, violet holes, and pale gray axes on a clean white background with precise, legible typography, balanced spacing, and no decorative elements or watermark.

    Open in the library →

Pricing

Priced per figure, not per seat.

3 free figures to start, about $0.50 a figure on Basic, or a one-time pack that never expires. Credits are used only for successful results.

Free

3 figures

plus 1 for a short survey

  • Verify your email or continue with Google. No card.
  • Generate, edit and download, with no watermark.
Start with 3 free figures

Basic

$9.90

a month

  • 20 figures a month, about $0.50 each.
  • $6.93 a month billed yearly. Cancel anytime.
See both plans

One-time pack

From $9.90

one time

  • 15 figures that never expire.
  • Larger packs cost less per figure. Nothing renews.
See the packs

A figure is one 1K generation or edit; a 2K result counts as two. Credits are spent only on results you receive. Pro gives 140 figures a month for $49.

At a glance

Scientific Figure Generator in brief

The essentials, kept current. Compare it with BioRender, FigureLabs and SciDraw.

What it is
An AI tool for researchers that creates scientific illustrations, diagrams and graphical abstracts, then lets you edit them by chat.
Inputs
A written description, a hand sketch, a reference image, your paper’s abstract or PDF, or one of 60 scientific templates.
Editing
Circle a region and describe the change; edit text, split layers, remove backgrounds or objects. A free label check flags likely errors, and a style locked from one figure keeps a set of figures consistent. Every edit is kept as a version.
Styles
Line art, 3D render and flat illustration.
Models
GPT Image 2.5 Flare (default), GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst and GPT Image 2, used inside a workflow that plans the figure, checks the labels and keeps every version.
Output
PNG at 1K or 2K with no watermark, and a 2× upscale (2K to 4K) for print. Editable exports (beta): a PowerPoint with every label as a text box, or an SVG plus PowerPoint where shapes become recolorable vector objects and labels stay text.
Cost
3 free figures for a new verified account, plus 1 for a short survey. A figure is one 1K generation or edit; a 2K result counts as two and is available after your first purchase. Basic is $9.90 a month for 20 figures, about $0.50 each; one-time packs start at $9.90 for 15 figures that never expire.
Rights
No ownership claimed; you may publish, present, edit and sell the figures, on free and paid accounts, with a license certificate for any figure. Check your journal’s AI policy first.

FAQ

Questions researchers ask first.

From the first draft to your final download.

Guides: citing AI figures · figure legends · graphical abstract examples · publication rights

Ask us a question

Your next figure, with the plan shown first.

Paste a paragraph or the abstract of the paper you are writing. The first figure needs no account, and the label check is free on every one.

Make the first figure