I have had a similar problem to you. If you save a plot in vector (svg) format then turn it into a pdf then all parts of the plot are saved as individual layers and the file can take a long time to load -- say from within in a LaTex pdf. One option is to save the file in a raster format (*.jpg, *.png etc). Then you may use a program like Inkscape to open the file, where you can then save a copy of it as a pdf. This process produces publication quality plots. The plot detail can then be improved by simply increasing the figure dpi when it is initially saved using Matplotlib.
Adam On Thu, 2009-04-02 at 01:45 +0000, matplotlib-users-requ...@lists.sourceforge.net wrote: > Send Matplotlib-users mailing list submissions to > matplotlib-users@lists.sourceforge.net > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/matplotlib-users > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > matplotlib-users-requ...@lists.sourceforge.net > > You can reach the person managing the list at > matplotlib-users-ow...@lists.sourceforge.net > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of Matplotlib-users digest..." > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. Scatter plots, pdf and rasterization (Tiago Pereira) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Thu, 02 Apr 2009 12:43:39 +1100 > From: Tiago Pereira <tiago...@gmail.com> > Subject: [Matplotlib-users] Scatter plots, pdf and rasterization > To: matplotlib-users@lists.sourceforge.net > Message-ID: <49d4184b.5030...@gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" > > Hi, > > I have a recurrent problem when trying to put some plots in pdf format. > Searching in this mailing list and google I haven't been able to find a > reasonable answer to this problem, and was wondering if someone could > point me in the right direction. > > The problem is the following. When saving to pdf matplotlib saves as a > vectorial pdf -- which is great. However I have some scatter plots that > have a lot of points (~ 400.000, see attached example in png). When I > save this into pdf the file is massive and takes a lot of time to open > in a reader. Since I don't really need the vectorial data for this > scatter plot, I was wondering if there was a way to still save as pdf > but keep the plot itself as a raster, instead of the full data. Why save > as pdf? Because I'd still like to have the scalable fonts. This is for a > publication, so it's much more harmonious to have the latex bits in the > plot as pdf. > > I have developed an intermediate solution. I have done a high-resolution > 2D histogram of the data and using imshow and a suitable colormap, > plotted that. For example in the blue points in the example I can get a > very good match on the screen. However I can only plot one set of data. > If I want to use other data in a different colour this doesn't work, > since another imshow will cover the original data. Unless there is the > option to have a transparent colour in the colormap, which I doubt. > > Do you have any ideas on how I could rasterize a plot and still save it > as pdf? > > Thanks! > > Tiago > -------------- next part -------------- > A non-text attachment was scrubbed... > Name: example.png > Type: image/png > Size: 52041 bytes > Desc: not available > > ------------------------------ > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > > ------------------------------ > > _______________________________________________ > Matplotlib-users mailing list > Matplotlib-users@lists.sourceforge.net > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/matplotlib-users > > > End of Matplotlib-users Digest, Vol 35, Issue 3 > *********************************************** ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ _______________________________________________ Matplotlib-users mailing list Matplotlib-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/matplotlib-users
