Is there any way to export a simbiology model diagram in high resolution?

I have a fairly large and complex simbiology model. I'd like to export the graphical model diagram in a presentation quality tiff, png, or other file.

When I zoom to show the whole diagram, the species labels are too small and dissappear. So a screen grab misses the labels. This is unacceptable to the client, who must show the diagram to his funding sources. He wants the high information density to be very apparent, to show the level of work we've put into this.

Other tools I've used have an export function (with png, tiff, jpeg, etc format choosable). Is there any way to get a presentation quality file directly from simulink?

Perhaps I'm missing an easy command, or perhaps I need to update my version of Simbiology.

Thanks!

PS I'm using Ubuntu 20.04

Answer 1

[Fulden Buyukozturk]

With R2021b, you can export the diagram as a tiff, png, jpeg, etc. by selecting Export->Export Diagram on Model Builder Home tab. Please see the screenshot below and let me know if this works for you.

Fulden

[Jim Bosley]

Thanks Fulden. Happy New Year.

[Fulden Buyukozturk]

Happy New Year!

[Jim Bosley]

Thanks, Fulden, and Happy New Year (or Bonne Année, as my colleagues say, or... Yeni Yılın Kutlu Olsun? Is that right?).

I installed 2021b and can export files now. Unfortunately, the files generated do not meet needs. The goal is for files to be clear (e.g. vector graphics) and to contain the full information of the graphical model including the species names and such. One of Simbiology's big strengths is to have a graphical model representation. This allows one to discuss the model with, for example, non-modelers who would be driven screaming from the room if they were shown and asked to understand matlab scripts. Diagrams are ubiquitous in biology, and so their implementation is important.

Exporting to a png or pdf file gives me a very blurry export without full information. Here are the issues

1) The model diagram is shrunk into the top left corner of the output file with lots of white space to the right and beneath the actual content of interest. This is not just a problem of having to crop out white space - the huge margins limit the extent to which the diagram can be zoomed. Simbiology has a button to expand or shrink the diagram to fit the screen window. This is the technology that should be applied to exporting the diagram to a file. Also suggest that portrait/landscape be an option (default landscape).

2) The species nodes are blurred and the species names are not printed. The species nodes should be clear and have the complete text visible, especially when you are outputting a vector graphics file.

I was presenting results to a foundation I work with at the end of 2021, and couldn't present a clean picture of the model. The ability to export a crisp, complete diagram will help me and will allow people to show their gool SimBiology® models to better effect. Thanks.

[Fulden Buyukozturk]

Thanks for this feedback Jim, very useful. To confirm: are you experiencing these issues also for the PDF export (using Diagram size = auto option)?

PDF should be the best export option available currently and we would expect that to be fully scalable. Please let me know.

Fulden

[Jim Bosley]

So when I set the size manually in pdf output, it appears that the white margin is preserved and the text is still suppressed. That is, the output still is unacceptable. The text is automatically turned off (presumably to make screen output more easily handled) no matter what size I choose. For my use, this makes the export function unusable. Changing the size changes both the visible model size but also the huge white space margins.

I suggest that the export function has

1) user-definable focus (this avoids the issue with the white margins)

2) absolutely NO elimination of detail (that is, the text MUST appear).

3) user-selectable output format

You have the last point, but points 1 and 2 would be very helpful, especially if Simbiology models are to be published.

Thanks,

Jim