matplotlib: generating vector plot

Question

I want to generate a vector plot with matplotlib. I tried hard - but the output is a raster image. Here's what I use:

import matplotlib
matplotlib.use('Agg')
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

and finally:

myfig.savefig('myfig.eps', format='eps')

I've found that export to ps gives a vector image, but the problem with eps remains.

Answer 1

I use the following code:

from matplotlib import pyplot as plt

fig, ax = plt.subplots() # or 
fig.savefig('filename.eps', format='eps')

Answer 2

Try exporting as a pdf or svg as described in http://neuroscience.telenczuk.pl/?p=331 If you need an eps the pdf2ps command works great.

Answer 3

If you need emf files as output format, e.g. to insert high quality plots into ms word/powerpoint and you are willing to use inkscape as converter you can apply this solution:

from matplotlib import pyplot as plt
import subprocess, os

def plot_as_emf(figure, **kwargs):
    inkscape_path = kwargs.get('inkscape', "C://Program Files//Inkscape//inkscape.exe")
    filepath = kwargs.get('filename', None)

    if filepath is not None:
        path, filename = os.path.split(filepath)
        filename, extension = os.path.splitext(filename)

        svg_filepath = os.path.join(path, filename+'.svg')
        emf_filepath = os.path.join(path, filename+'.emf')

        figure.savefig(svg_filepath, format='svg')

        subprocess.call([inkscape_path, svg_filepath, '--export-emf', emf_filepath])
        os.remove(svg_filepath)

In order to test this function you can run a simple example:

plt.plot([1,2], [4,5])
fig = plt.gcf()
plot_as_emf(fig, filename="C:/test.emf")