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A free alternative to Adobe Illustrator for scientific figures
BioDiorama is a free, browser-based alternative to Adobe Illustrator for the particular job of making scientific figures. Instead of a subscription and an empty artboard, it gives you 27,200 ready-made 3D biology and chemistry models, about 13,000 science icons, about 500 ready-made biology diagrams and about 320 templates, a 3D studio to pose them in and a page editor to lay out panels, and it exports layered SVG and PDF that open in Illustrator with their layers, vector shapes and live text intact. It is free, in the browser, with no installation and no account.
Open BioDiorama See the 27,200 models
At a glance
| BioDiorama | Adobe Illustrator | |
|---|---|---|
| What it costs | Free, with no account. | A Creative Cloud subscription — see Adobe’s pricing. |
| Where it runs | Any recent browser with WebGL. | Installed on macOS and Windows, with a web version. |
| What you start from | Ready-made scientific models, icons, diagrams and page templates. | An empty artboard and a professional drawing toolkit. |
| Learning it | Pick a model, turn it, drop it on the page. Most people make something useful in the first ten minutes. | A deep program that rewards real training. |
| 3D | A full 3D studio with real lighting, materials and cut-aways. | Limited 3D effects, not a modelling studio. |
| Export | Editable PowerPoint (.pptx), layered SVG, 3D models (.glb), PDF, and TIFF or PNG up to 600 dpi, plus MP4 and GIF. | AI, PDF, EPS, SVG and every raster format, with full print and colour management. |
| Typography and print | Text with sub- and superscripts, lists, word art and text-to-outline; RGB colour. | Professional typography, CMYK, spot colours and prepress. |
| Scientific accuracy | Structures come from the Protein Data Bank, AlphaFold, PubChem, BodyParts3D and the Human Reference Atlas. | Whatever you draw. |
What you get by switching
- The expensive part of a figure — drawing a convincing cell, organ, virus or instrument — is already done, 27,200 times over.
- Layered SVG and PDF export means an Illustrator user down the hall can still take the figure the last mile.
- Journal output without a subscription: TIFF and PNG up to 600 dpi with transparency, and PDF.
- A 3D view is a real render, not a drawing of one: real lights, materials, shadows and journal-cover looks.
- Runs on a computer you do not control — a core-facility machine, a hospital desktop, a borrowed laptop.
- Licence and credit lines for every borrowed picture are tracked and handed to you at export.
Where Adobe Illustrator is still the better tool
Said plainly, because picking the wrong tool wastes more time than any figure saves.
- Illustrator is a far deeper design program: typography, gradients and meshes, brushes, blends, prepress and colour management are all beyond what a figure tool needs to do.
- CMYK, spot colour and print-shop output belong in Illustrator.
- Illustrator is the tool for brand and publication design as a whole, not just figures — covers, posters as graphic design, logos, journals’ own layouts.
- No plug-in ecosystem, scripting or Creative Cloud integration.
Moving a figure across
- Open biodiorama.com — no install, no sign-in.
- Build the scientific objects in the 3D Studio and send the views you want to the 2D Studio.
- Lay out the panels: panel letters, arrows, labels, charts, legends.
- Export SVG (or PDF) and open it in Illustrator: the layers are named, shapes are vector and text is live.
- Finish the typography and colour there if your journal asks for something BioDiorama does not do.
Questions people ask
What is a free alternative to Adobe Illustrator for science figures?
BioDiorama for the scientific content and layout, and Inkscape if you want a full free vector editor. BioDiorama exports layered SVG, so the two can be used one after the other.
Will my journal accept a figure that was not made in Illustrator?
Journals ask for a format and a resolution, not a program. BioDiorama exports TIFF and PNG up to 600 dpi, PDF, and vector SVG, which covers almost every figure specification.
Can I open a BioDiorama figure in Illustrator?
Yes — export SVG or PDF. Layers keep their names, shapes stay vector and text stays editable.
Does BioDiorama replace Illustrator entirely?
For making figures from scientific objects, usually yes. For print design, CMYK work and heavy typography, no — and it does not try to.
Is there a watermark or an export limit?
No. Exports are full quality and there is no account to hit a limit on.
Is BioDiorama affiliated with Adobe?
No. Adobe and Illustrator are trademarks of Adobe Inc.; they are named here only to describe the comparison people are making.
Other comparisons
Adobe Illustrator is a trademark of its owner. BioDiorama is an independent project, is not affiliated with or endorsed by it, and nothing here is a quotation of its terms: plans, prices and features change, so check Adobe Illustrator’s own site before you decide.