Figure export/print always has gray background with png/jpg

Whenever I export a figure in matlab to a png or jpg, the background is always gray. This is the case with using the 'print' and 'saveas' functions, as well as the fileexchange function export_fig. I have tried toggling the inverthardcopy and color figure settings to no avail.

This is very strange because it is a recent problem that seems to come out of nowhere. That is, i had no problems one day on my machine and the next day the same code could not switch the background color (white is what i want). In fact, exporting figures on my home computer works exactly as expected.

For example, the following code will save a figure with a gray background on my laptop but a white background on my home computer.

>> a = rand(100,2); >> plot(a); >> set(gcf,'inverthardcopy','off'); >> set(gcf,'color','w'); >> saveas(gcf,'test.png');

Similarly, if i set inverthardcopy to 'on' and dont change the background color, my home computer png will have a white background and my laptop will have a gray one.

I have noticed that the only way i can get the correct background color on a saved image is by setting inverthardcopy to 'off', manually changing the figure color, and saving as a .bmp file.

Any ideas on what setting may have been changed on my laptop to cause this?

Thanks,

Jacob

Answer 1

[Jan]

Did you alter any default settings in startup.m? Compare this on bogth computers:

get(0, 'Default')

In addition there is a field in the preferences dialog:

Preferences->Figure Copy Template->Copy Options->
* Use figure color
* Force white background
* Transparent background

Do you have the same setting on both computers?

Answer 2

[Chris]

I had the same issue and removing the default figure color option did the job.

set(0,'DefaultFigureColor','remove')

[Karl]

Worked for me: with one change:

set(0,'DefaultFigureColor',[1 1 1])

[Juan Martin Farias]

Thanks Karl. Your answer sovled my problems.

Best

Answer 3

[Henry]

So I have had this problem when every figure i exported using the openGL renderer has a black background which i did not want. I searched through the internet for a solution but never came across an answer. I thought I would post on here in case anyone else comes across this thread.

It appears that a setting has been unwillingly changed (although I dont know which one). My solution was to find the preferences directory by typing prefdir into the command line.

prefdir

Close matlab

Delete this folder

Re-open matlab.

The folder is recreated but not previous settings or history is used by matlab. It is quite annoying but it solved the issue with always having the black background with exported figures

[Shawn]

That helps me, I am facing exactly the same problem as you said. Neither set(0,'DefaultFigureColor',[1 1 1]), set(gcf,'color','w') nor set(0,'defaultFigureInvertHardcopy','off'), set(gcf,'FigureInvertHardcopy','off') can solve my problem. I think there is some problem with my grafic card, or it must be some bugs of Matlab regarding the background color of the exported figures. Ever since I called the 'color' of the background once, it never goes back to the days when I have no problem with this.

[jimmydx]

Thank you so much for this insight. I was able to solve my problem by deleting the prefdir. However, I only deleted the files that had been modified during the session where I started having problems. Of course it would be much more helpful to know 1) what triggered it and 2) what preference actually changed. Anyway, your solution saved me a huge headache.

[Katherine]

I have been searching for this solution for weeks! Your post may be 10 years old but it just saved me from yet another week of troubleshooting every code/manual formatting edit I can find!

Answer 4

[Gaston]

I had the same problem with saving a figure as a .eps file and none of the other answers solved my problem. What did work for me was replacing

saveas(gcf,'filename','eps');

by

print('filename','-depsc')