1D Image, 2D Image, or 3D Image
Use the 1D Image, 2D Image, and 3D Image nodes to export plot images as PNG, BMP, EPS, TIFF, GIF, or JPEG image files.
To export a plot, right-click Export () and select 1D image, 2D Image, or 3D Image, or right-click any Plot Group node, for example, 3D Plot Group or 1D Plot Group, and select Add Image to Export. Click the Image node under Export.
By default, the COMSOL Multiphysics software uses software rendering for creating the images. It is also possible to generate the images using the graphics card. Such hardware-accelerated image export runs much faster and can make it possible to export larger images, but it can become unstable if the image size exceeds or is close to the allowed limit (for example, 4000-by-4000 pixels). To enable hardware-accelerated image export, open the Preferences dialog box, and, on the Graphics and Plot Windows page under Image export, clear the Use software rendering for image export check box.
Use the Animation node, for example, to export multiple images for different time steps or eigenvalues.
The nodes are numbered sequentially. To make it easier to organize, you can right-click and Rename the node.
Scene
Select a Subject. The list contains the 1D, 2D, or 3D plot groups previously defined. 1D Image uses data from 1D Plot Groups, 2D Image uses data from 2D Plot Groups, and 3D Image uses data from 3D Plot Groups.
Under Scene, for 2D Image and 3D Image models, select a View: From plot group (the default) to use the view from the plot group settings, or select another view from the list (if available and previously defined). It is also possible to choose New view. The image then uses that new view, which appears as a View 2D () or View 3D () node under Views.
On the Settings window toolbar, click the Refresh button () to refresh the Graphics window to get a preview of the image to export. This is useful when the Subject or View selection is changed.
Image
Choose a Size: Manual to specify the image size manually or Current to use the current size of the Graphics windows. For either Size option, the Zoom extents check box is available, which you can select to add a zoom to extents before exporting the image. Also, the Antialiasing check box is selected by default to reduce stairstep-like lines and to smooth lines and edges. The rest of these settings are available if Manual is selected.
•
Select a Unit of dimension: Pixels (px) (the default), Millimeters (mm), or Inches (in).
•
Select the Lock aspect ratio check box to keep the original image width and height.
•
In the Width and Height fields, enter the number of pixels, millimeters, or inches for the final image size.
•
Enter a Resolution. The default is 96 DPI (dots per inch).
File
Choose an image file Format: PNG (the default), BMP, JPEG, TIFF, GIF, glTF (GL Transmission Format; 3D only, saved as binary GLB files), or EPS (1D only). If you choose the JPEG format, you can also control the quality of the image using a quality measure (scalar number) between 1 and 100 (a higher number represents a higher quality). The default value is 92. Select the check box next to Quality to enter another quality number.
JPEG is a format that uses “lossy compression”, so using a low quality measure can make the exported image differ from the original image.
Enter a Filename including a path to save it to your computer or click Browse and navigate to where you want to Save the output.
Select the Always ask for filename check box if you want the program to always display a dialog box for specifying where to store the image.
Layout
When importing an image with a transparent background to another Windows application, first save the image as a file rather than saving it to the clipboard. In some cases the transparent background is not preserved if you copy an image via the clipboard.
One additional Background option is available for the Image export when using a PNG file format: Transparent. Otherwise, see Animation for the rest of the settings. For 1D Image nodes, the Include check box is selected by default.
Click the Export button () in the Settings window or right-click the node and select Export. The Messages window confirms where the files are exported as specified in the File section.