Graphics > Graphics Overview > Saving Graphics

# Saving Graphics

When you display a graphic, you can save it in the following formats.

.bmp | Windows Bitmap
.emf | Windows Enhanced Metafile
.eps, .ps | Encapsulated PostScript
.gif | Graphics Interchange Format
.jpeg, .jpg | Joint Photographic Experts Group
.jp2, .j2k, .jpx | JPEG2000
.kml | Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) Keyhole Markup Language
.pdf | Portable Document Format
.pict | Macintosh PICT
.png | Portable Network Graphics
.tif, .tiff | Tag Image File Format

1. Create or display graphic in IDL.
2. Click the Save button in the toolbar. The Save As dialog appears.
3. The dialog works differently on different platforms. The extension you add to the file name determines the format.

You can also save programmatically from the IDL command line. The following example displays a bar plot:

x = FINDGEN(41)/10 - 2

gauss = EXP(-x^2)

p = BARPLOT(x, gauss, $

TITLE='Gaussian Distribution',$

YRANGE=[0,1.1], / DATA)

p.Save, `"gaussian.png"`, BORDER=10, $

RESOLUTION=300, /TRANSPARENT

Note: The Save method saves the window contents after graphic creation. The file is saved in the current directory unless you specify a directory. The current directory is displayed in the Console toolbar. You can also issue the following command to find the current directory:

CD, current=dir

PRINT, dir

## Resources

- Graphics examples
- IDL Graphics Functions
- Change graphics properties
- Multiple graphics in one window