Clip an image using several patches in matplotlib

Question

I have a plot in pylab which I want to clip to the borders of a map of the UK.

I\'ve also made a series of patches which contain the outlines of each country: one f

Answer 1

I think you can do this by making multiple scatter plots, clipping each one with a unique patch (eg one has England, one has Ireland, etc). Though this might not be what you asked for, ie "Does anyone know how I can clip using an 'OR' type statement?", it should have the same effect:

import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import matplotlib.patches as patches

np.random.seed(101)
x = np.random.random(100)
y = np.random.random(100)

fig = plt.figure()
ax = fig.add_subplot(111)
imForEngland = ax.scatter(x,y)
fig.savefig('beforeclip.png')
imForWales = ax.scatter(x,y)
england = patches.Circle((.75,.75),radius=.25,fc='none')
wales = patches.Circle((.25,.25),radius=.25,fc='none')
ax.add_patch(england)
ax.add_patch(wales)
imForEngland.set_clip_path(england)
imForWales.set_clip_path(wales)

fig.savefig('afterclip.png')

Before the patches: After the patches: