How do you prepare graphical abstract, schematic figures and similar extras for your papers? Is there a software with good vector graphic library of shapes?
There are many question here in researchgate similar to yours. You'll find there plenty of software suggested by users including myself. A small list of relevant topics is:
I've tried give links to all software I've suggested so it should be pretty easy to navigate. Some of the software are specialized in flowcharts, others are general purpose vector drawing software and finally you have some of the best plotting libraries (programming) around. Your choice will depend a lot on your requirements.
The graphical abstract reflects the paper content. So, depending on the paper content and the software that you have used to illustrate your results you could present a more attractive figure, including photos, using graphical programs such as for example Photoshop, 3D-Studio and related.
Have you tried SigmaPlot for all scientific graphing requirements and you can even try ChemCraft Pro for all chemical drawings for publications as well as creating chemical animations for your presentations.
Is a free online app that contains a library of pre-made cells, proteins, membrane shapes, organs, lab equipment, etc. that you can drag-and-drop so you don't have to spend time drawing each element of the figure out yourself. Saves a lot of time for creating schematic figures, and the icons are all created by scientific illustrators so they're both beautiful and accurate! And it's free for educational use.