Huge file size of figures printed in vector format (e.g. eps) with -painters renderer?

Between submitting a manuscript and receiving its reviews, I upgraded to Matlab 2015a. I am now updating the figures in response to the reviews. The plots are information-rich, some containing a filled contour plot behind a quiver plot. The old version of Matlab handled the graphics beautifully, with average file size < 1 MB. I am using identical scripts to plot, but now the average file size is > 30 MB, making editing and uploading untenable. The final print command is:

print -painters -depsc filename.eps

I've seen that others have posted similar questions, but cannot find a work-around that solves it.

Answer 1

[Ilja Maljutenko]

Since new graphics engine splits objects into small pieces when exporting with painters (each containing information about its characteristics), then there is nothing to do but downgrade.

I wish there would be at least some reasonable response from Mathworks -.- . Hopefully something is hatching under cover of silence.

My querry about why-is-vector-graphics-chopped-into-pieces

Answer 2

[Alexandros Filotheou]

One workaround I have recently found is that you can open the .eps in GIMP, save to .png, and reconvert to .eps. The resolution of the final .eps depends on the rendering resolution when you initially open it with `GIMP`, and therefore so does the final file size. But it does wonders; I hope this helps.

Answer 3

[Rob Hart]

Try running 'cleanfigure' before exporting. Reduced one of my figures from 2 MB to 52 KB.