Published figures often contain valuable data that is not available in tabular form. Plot2CSV lets you recover X-Y coordinates from line charts and scatter plots in minutes.

Why digitize graphs?

Researchers commonly need to:

  • Compare new results against published curves
  • Re-analyze historical figures
  • Build datasets for teaching or meta-analysis

Best practices

  1. Use a high-resolution image — screenshots of PDFs at 2× zoom work well.
  2. Crop tightly — remove titles, legends, and captions so detection focuses on the curve.
  3. Calibrate carefully — click the true axis origin and extrema, then enter exact axis limits from the figure.
  4. Review points — drag outliers and delete artifacts before export.

Linear vs log axes

If either axis is logarithmic, switch the scale in calibration. Plot2CSV recalculates all coordinates instantly when you change min/max or scale type.

Export

Download CSV for scripts, Excel for quick inspection, or JSON for APIs. Manual edits are always included.