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ModeOne of 7 LabFig creation paths

Photo to Figure: turn a lab-bench photo into a clean labeled scientific figure

Photo to Figure takes a photo of your real bench, rig, or instrument and redraws it as a tidy scientific figure — not a filtered snapshot. It recognizes the equipment, strips the clutter and glare, and lays the parts out as labeled icons connected by directional arrows. It is a fast way to turn bench setups into biology figures and medical figures. Then refine every label, box, and color of the photo to figure result on the vector canvas before export.

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Photo to Figure result: a photographed lab bench redrawn as a clean five-stage PCR workflow scientific figure with labeled equipment icons and arrows
Photo to Figure abstracting a cluttered apparatus photograph into a tidy scientific figure of labeled icons and connecting arrows

Photo to Figure · bench photo redrawn into a labeled workflow scientific figure

Snap your real bench
Redrawn, not filteredJournal-quality output
Photo to Figure

Drag to see Photo to Figure turn a photo into a schematic

On the left is a raw photo of the bench — cables, glare, and background included. On the right is what Photo to Figure redraws: the same setup abstracted into a labeled scientific figure with a clean left-to-right flow.

The same bench redrawn as a clean five-stage PCR workflow schematic with labeled icons and arrowsSchematic
Photograph of a molecular biology lab bench with a PCR thermal cycler and surrounding equipmentPhoto
Live workbench

Photo to Figure: upload a photo and generate your scientific figure

Run Photo to Figure here: upload a photo of your lab bench, rig, or instrument — a clear shot of the whole setup works best — then hit generate. An example instruction is preloaded; edit it to name your equipment and the flow you want.

Image → Figure
225/2000

Describe the figure you need — or add a reference image to transform.

Advanced
Cost 4 credits·Remaining 0 credits

Your figure will appear here

Pick a mode · Describe the figure · Generate

How it works

Photo to Figure: from a bench photo to a scientific figure in three steps

No tracing over a photo and no rebuilding the setup from memory — shoot it, redraw it, and refine it in one place.

1Step 1

Snap the bench or apparatus

Photograph your real setup — a thermal cycler, an optical rig, a flow loop — framing the whole workflow in one shot. A phone photo is plenty; lighting and angle don't have to be perfect.

2Step 2

Generate a schematic

Photo to Figure recognizes the instruments, drops the background and glare, and redraws them as labeled icons and boxes wired together with directional arrows — a clean scientific figure, not a stylized photo.

3Step 3

Refine and export

Rename a component, redirect an arrow, or recolor a stage on the Vector Canvas, then export SVG, PDF, or 300-dpi PNG straight into your methods section, poster, or slides.

Why Photo to Figure

Photo to Figure reads the apparatus, not just the pixels.

Photo to Figure is not a photo filter — it understands what the equipment is and rebuilds your setup as an editable, submission-ready scientific figure.

Understanding

Understands apparatus, not just pixels

It identifies the instruments in the frame — pumps, cyclers, detectors, tubing — and removes glare, clutter, and the background lab so what remains is the setup itself, not a photo of a messy bench.

Equipment recognitionGlare & clutter removedBackground dropped
Output

Redrawn, not traced

LabFig rebuilds the apparatus as fresh editable vectors with consistent icons and line weights — not a filtered or outlined photo. Every box, arrow, and color stays editable on the Vector Canvas.

Editable vectorsConsistent iconsSVG · PDF · PNG
Clarity

Labels the parts and the flow

Each component gets a clean label and the steps are connected with directional arrows, turning a static photo into a readable workflow that shows what connects to what and in which order.

Component labelsDirectional arrowsLeft-to-right flow

Photo to Figure FAQ

Common questions about Photo to Figure — turning a lab or apparatus photo into a clean scientific figure.

Photo to Figure is LabFig's mode for turning a photo of a real lab bench, rig, or instrument into a clean scientific figure. With Photo to Figure you upload the photo, LabFig recognizes the equipment and workflow, and it redraws them as labeled icons and boxes connected by arrows — an editable scientific figure, not a filtered photo. For the bigger picture, read our primer on what AI for scientific figures is.

It works from what is visible in your photo and the instruction you give, so it should not fabricate equipment that isn't there. If a part is hidden or ambiguous, name it in the prompt — and because the result is editable, you can delete anything it misread or add a component it couldn't see on the Vector Canvas before export.

Photo to Figure is tuned for photos of physical apparatus and benches — instruments, rigs, flow loops, and setups you can point a camera at. A raw microscopy or imaging dataset is a different task; for those, describe the workflow with text to figure or use reference to figure with an existing scientific figure instead.

Yes. If one angle can't capture the whole setup, upload several shots of the same rig as multi-image context so LabFig can piece the components together into a single schematic. Mention in the prompt how the views relate — for example, that the second photo is the detector at the end of the flow loop.

Loose cables and tubing in a photo are usually visual clutter, so LabFig abstracts them into clean directional arrows or connectors that show the real flow — signal, fluid, or sample — rather than tracing every physical wire. You can reroute or relabel any connection on the canvas afterward.

A normal phone photo is enough. Frame the whole setup, keep the key instruments in view, and avoid heavy motion blur — perfect lighting or a clean background aren't required, since removing glare and clutter is part of what the redraw does.

Photo to Figure: turn your first bench photo into a scientific figure

Try Photo to Figure now — upload a photo of your setup and get a clean, labeled scientific figure in minutes — free while you explore.

A phone photo is all you need · Editable vector output

Photo to Figure: Turn a Lab Photo into a Schematic | LabFig