Added documentation of patch/alpha changes.

Westacular · May 4, 2013 · cd18645 · cd18645
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diff --git a/doc/api/api_changes.rst b/doc/api/api_changes.rst
@@ -43,6 +43,21 @@ Changes in 1.3.x
 * The :func:`~matplotlib.cbook.check_output` function has been moved to
   `~matplotlib.compat.subprocess`.
 
+* :class:`~matplotlib.patches.Patch` now fully supports using RGBA values for
+  its ``facecolor`` and ``edgecolor`` attributes, which enables faces and
+  edges to have different alpha values. If the
+  :class:`~matplotlib.patches.Patch` object's ``alpha`` attribute is set to
+  anything other than ``None``, that value will override any alpha-channel
+  value in both the face and edge colors. Previously, if
+  :class:`~matplotlib.patches.Patch` had ``alpha=None``, the alpha component
+  of ``edgecolor`` would be applied to both the edge and face.
+
+* For :class:`~matplotlib.patches.Patch`, the ``capstyle`` used is now
+  ``butt``, to be consistent with the default for most other objects, and to
+  avoid problems with non-solid ``linestyle`` appearing solid when using a
+  large ``linewidth``. Previously, :class:`~matplotlib.patches.Patch` used
+  ``capstyle='projecting'``.
+
 Changes in 1.2.x
 ================
 

diff --git a/doc/users/whats_new.rst b/doc/users/whats_new.rst
@@ -154,6 +154,16 @@ Wes Campaigne and Phil Elson fixed the Agg backend such that PNGs are now
 saved with the correct background color when :meth:`fig.patch.get_alpha` is
 not 1.
 
+Independent alpha values for face and edge colors
+-------------------------------------------------
+Wes Campaigne modified how :class:`~matplotlib.patches.Patch` objects are
+drawn such that (for backends supporting transparency) you can set different
+alpha values for faces and edges, by specifying their colors in RGBA format.
+Note that if you set the alpha attribute for the patch object (e.g. using
+:meth:`~matplotlib.patches.Patch.set_alpha` or the ``alpha`` keyword
+argument), that value will override the alpha components set in both the
+face and edge colors.
+
 
 .. _whats-new-1-2-2:
 

diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/backend_bases.py b/lib/matplotlib/backend_bases.py
@@ -901,8 +901,7 @@ def set_foreground(self, fg, isRGBA=False):
         html hex color string, an rgb or rgba unit tuple, or a float between 0
         and 1.  In the latter case, grayscale is used.
 
-        If you know fg is rgb or rgba, set ``isRGBA=True`` for
-        efficiency.
+        If you know fg is rgba, set ``isRGBA=True`` for efficiency.
         """
         self._orig_color = fg
         if self._forced_alpha: