MATLAB: Does the “alpha” function make the left and bottom borders of the figure disappear in MATLAB

MATLAB

The left and bottom borders of the axes disappear (although the ticks are displayed as expected – with 'box on') when I change the transparency of the plot.
Here is my code:
       figure
       area(1:10,1:10)
       box on
       alpha(0.2)
Why does that happen?

Best Answer

This is due to a bug when using transparency in MATLAB. OpenGL does not render the borders correctly.
This issue occurs when a plot with some transparency has its edges overlapping with the edge of the figure.
Possible Workaround on Mac:
Increase the axes offset by a small value depending on the scale of your figure. For example:
       figure
       area(0:10,0:10)
       box on
       alpha(0.2)
       set(gca,'xlim',[0 10.001])
       set(gca,'ylim',[-0.001 10])
Possible workaround on Windows and Linux:
1. OpenGL is the renderer that MATLAB uses to handle transparency. By default, OpenGL runs in hardware acceleration mode to increase performance. Use OpenGL in software mode instead:
       >> opengl software
Make sure to run this command before opening a new figure.
2. Once OpenGL is set to run in software mode, slightly increase the x-axis limit to make the right border reappear:
       figure
       area(1:10,1:10)
       box on
       alpha(0.2)
       xlim([1 10.001])
This should also fix issues with the borders of the legend box.
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