Circos > Documentation > Tutorials > Configuration > Svg Output


0 — Configuration and Installation

11. SVG Output

Circos is capable of producing both PNG and SVG images. This section discusses SVG files.

SVG Output

SVG stands for scalable vector graphics and it is a format that defines an image using vector-based primitives (lines, squares, rectangles, etc) rather than pixels. SVG images can be turned into a bitmap (rasterized) at any resolution, which makes them appealing for creating figures for publication. You can edit and rasterize SVG files using applications such as Illustrator or Inkscape.

To turn SVG output on, set the svg flag in the <image> block

svg = yes

or use the -svg command-line flag

bin/circos -svg

You can also suppress the creation of the SVG file using

bin/circos -nosvg 

Fonts in SVG files

Text elements in SVG files have the font-family attribute, which specifies the font for the text element.

Make sure that you have all the fonts used by your image installed on your system. Circos uses CMU Modern (see fonts/modern) for all its labels and a custom symbols font (see fonts/symbols). I've had reports from Windows users that Illustrator failed to load the SVG file unless all the fonts used by the figure were installed.

If your text appears smaller than expected, increase the svg_font_scale parameter in etc/housekeeping.conf.