diff --git a/rogueviz/dhrg/dhrg.cpp b/rogueviz/dhrg/dhrg.cpp
index 6b0e8b73..441445bc 100644
--- a/rogueviz/dhrg/dhrg.cpp
+++ b/rogueviz/dhrg/dhrg.cpp
@@ -150,14 +150,6 @@ int dhrgArgs() {
     shift(); ground_truth_test(args());
     }
 
-  else if(argis("-esaveas")) {
-    shift(); save_embedding(args());
-    }
-
-  else if(argis("-esave")) {
-    save_embedding(rogueviz::fname + "-dhrg.txt");
-    }
-
   else if(argis("-eload")) {
     PHASE(3); shift(); dhrg_init(); load_embedded(args());
     next_timestamp++;
diff --git a/rogueviz/embeddings/embeddings.cpp b/rogueviz/embeddings/embeddings.cpp
index e9053b36..b7bda551 100644
--- a/rogueviz/embeddings/embeddings.cpp
+++ b/rogueviz/embeddings/embeddings.cpp
@@ -84,12 +84,18 @@ void enable_embedding(std::shared_ptr<embedding> pe) {
   reenable_embedding();
   }
 
+void esave(string fname) {
+  fhstream f(arg::args(), "wt");
+  if(!f.f) file_error(fname);
+  current->save(f);
+  }
+
 void store_gamedata(struct hr::gamedata* gd) { gd->store(current); }
 
 int a = arg::add3("-edgelist", [] { arg::shift(); read_edgelist(arg::args()); })
   + addHook(hooks_gamedata, 230, store_gamedata)
-  + arg::add3("-write-edges", [] { arg::shift(); write_edgelist(arg::args()); });
-
+  + arg::add3("-write-edges", [] { arg::shift(); write_edgelist(arg::args()); })
+  + arg::add3("-esaveas", [] { arg::shift(); esave(arg::args()); });
 
 }
 
diff --git a/rogueviz/embeddings/polar.cpp b/rogueviz/embeddings/polar.cpp
index 71d83f1b..b04e7452 100644
--- a/rogueviz/embeddings/polar.cpp
+++ b/rogueviz/embeddings/polar.cpp
@@ -32,12 +32,31 @@ namespace embeddings {
       return acosh(v);
       }
 
+    void save(fhstream& f) override {
+      println(f, "n R alpha t");
+      println(f, isize(vdata), " ", cont_logistic.R, " ", graph_alpha, " ", cont_logistic.T);
+      int i = 0;
+      for(auto& co: coords)
+        println(f, vdata[i++].name, format(" %.20lf %.20lf", co.r, co.theta / degree));
+      }
+
     };
 
   /** read polar coordinates, in the format returned by the BFKL embdder. */
 
   void read_polar(const string& fn) {
 
+    if(fn == "-") {
+      auto pe = std::make_shared<polar_embedding> ();
+      int N = isize(vdata);
+      pe->coords.resize(N);
+      for(int i=0; i<N; i++) {
+        auto h = current->as_hyperpoint(i);
+        pe->coords[i] = { hdist0(h), atan2(h) };
+        }
+      return enable_embedding(pe);
+      }
+
     fhstream f(fn, "rt");
     if(!f.f) return file_error(fn);
 
@@ -67,7 +86,7 @@ namespace embeddings {
       pe->coords[id] = polar_point{.r = r, .theta = theta * degree};
       }
     
-    enable_embedding(std::move(pe));
+    enable_embedding(pe);
     }
 
   int a_polar =