Answer : Let me try to give you some hints. Problem 1. When you look at a specific tick in a Graphics it usually looks similar to the following {200., 200., {0.00625, 0.}, {GrayLevel[0.], AbsoluteThickness[0.25]}} it means, at position 200 draw the number 200. The next list is the specification of the tick-length and then follows a list of graphic-directives to use. I assume if you convert the label into another form, like a string, you may have more luck with your approach. Let's try something transformTick[{pos_, label_, length_List, spec_List}] := {pos, ToString[label, TraditionalForm], length, spec} p1 = Plot[x^2, {x, 0, 1000}, Frame -> True] p2 = Show[p1, FrameTicks -> Map[transformTick, FrameTicks /. AbsoluteOptions[p, FrameTicks], {2}]] It seems the Ticks are a bit smaller and the dot after the number does not appear in the original but otherwise it looks OK for me. If you now compare ImportString[ExportString[#, "EPS"], "EPS...