Most open magnetic resonance imaging systems have used the planar gradient coils whose inductances were minimized through the magnetic energy minimization procedure in the spatial frequency domain. Though the planar gradient coils have smaller inductance than conventional gradient coils, the planar gradient coils often suffer from their poor magnetic field linearity. Scaling the spatial frequencies of the current density function designed by the magnetic energy minimization, magnetic field linearity of the planar gradient coils can be greatly improved with small sacrifice of gradient coil inductance. We have found that the figure of merit of the planar gradient coils, defined by the gradient strength divided by the linearity error and the inductance, can be improved by proposed technique.