Built-in Mathematica Symbol

Opacity

Opacity[a]
is a graphics directive which specifies that graphical objects which follow are to be displayed, if possible, with opacity a.

Opacity[a, color]
uses the specified color with opacity a.

MORE INFORMATION

Opacity runs from 0 to 1, with 0 representing perfect transparency.

If an opacity a object with color c₁ is placed in front of an object with color c₂, the resulting color will be the blend ac₁+(1-a)c₂.

If red and blue with opacity 0.5 are combined, the result is purple—not black, as it would be with physical monochromatic filters. »

Opacity works in both 2D and 3D graphics.

It may take significantly longer to render 3D graphics that involve transparent surfaces.

Graphics that involve transparency may need to be printed as high-resolution bitmaps.

On many computer systems, objects with opacity a will appear completely transparent if a is too small. »

EXAMPLES

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Basic Examples (3)

Make a 50% transparent sphere:

Plot a see-through surface:

Overlapping translucent 2D disks:

Make a 50% transparent sphere:

In[1]:=

Out[1]=

Plot a see-through surface:

In[1]:=

Out[1]=

Overlapping translucent 2D disks:

In[1]:=

Out[1]=

Scope (2)

Larger opacity makes surfaces more opaque:

Opacity is kept throughout the scope of graphics directives:

Generalizations & Extensions (2)

Color primitives can be used with Opacity:

Directive can be used to combine colors with opacity:

Applications (3)

Half-transparent surface:

Use Opacity to understand complicated surfaces:

Use Opacity to visualize internal structure, in this case two ellipsoidal shells:

Properties & Relations (6)

Overlapping of translucent red and blue disks results in purple:

Background color can be seen through a transparent object:

Each color primitive supports an extended form which can be used to specify opacity:

Opacity is used by default to show overlapping fillings:

Opacity is used for fillings to surface plots:

Opacity is used in ParametricPlot to visualize regions that get covered multiple times:

Possible Issues (3)

If the opacity is too small, objects will typically render as completely transparent:

Overlapping of multiple translucent objects can generate an opaque result:

If each opacity is too small, any number of elements together will still render as transparent:

Completely transparent objects are still counted for PlotRange:

Neat Examples (1)

Random collection of transparent cylinders: