Matplotlib Plots Lose Transparency When Saving as .ps/.eps

Question

I\'m having an issue with attempting to save some plots with transparent ellipsoids on them if I attempt to save them with .ps/.eps extensions.

Here\'s the plot sav

Answer 1

As mentioned above, the best and easiest choice (if you do not want to loose resolution) is to rasterized the figure

f = plt.figure()
f.set_rasterized(True)

ax = f.add_subplot(111)

ax.set_rasterized(True)
f.savefig('figure_name.eps',rasterized=True,dpi=300)

This way, you can manage the size by dpi option as well. In fact, you can also play with the zorder below you want to apply the rasterization:

ax.set_rasterization_zorder(0)

Note: It is important to keep f.set_rasterized(True) when you use plt.subplot and plt.subplot2grid functions. Otherwise, label and tick area will not appear in the .eps file