I wonder if anybody knows if it is possible to remove the grey checkered background from a eps vector file using Inkscape?

I am running version 1.1.1 of Inkscape on windows 10 Pro 64bit.

I have downloaded Ghostscript and amended operating system variables with the 'bin' and 'lib' files so that I can import eps files into Inkscape.

So far so good. I can now open the eps vector in Inkscape. But I cannot figure out how to remove the transparency grid from the image. If I double click the image the only thing that happens is the image gets divided into 8 sections, which can be grouped and ungrouped. But it doesn't show the different layers letting me remove the transparency grid.

If I use trace bitmap function then in the background of the segment required the transparency grid (checkered in grey) still remains - see attachment for the result. So I am stuck.

I had a look on the forum and on youtube but there is no specific advice for this problem. The image is downloaded from shutterstock as an eps file and is described as having a transparent background. I spoke to their support team who advised me that the grid can be removed using Adobe Illustrator which unfortunately I do not have.

I am attaching the file concerned and also the result I got. Any advice or tips would be most welcome.

Thank you

Shutterstock may describe this image as "having a transparent background" but as far as I can tell, they've given you a non-transparent image with a background grid rendered into a group of bitmaps. There's no way in Inkscape to remove this grid. 

Agree... that eps image is useless for transparency in any fashion. If a collection of formats was purchased, maybe another version would be useful.

Thanks for your replies. Would GIMP work for this task do you know?

thanks

Sadly no... too many fine details and transparencies.

In fact, this checkerboard is not a png-style transparency. When you open it in Gimp, you see that the squares are bigger than the genuine transparency. Krita does not open EPS files. And to clean that checkerboard in the Gimp would be a huge job...

An alternative (I don't know if it's good for you) would be to recreate the effect in Gimp. I remembered a Gimp tutorial that teaches a similar effect. It was called: Create Flowing Light Streaks in Gimp.

Unfortunately the link to the original tutorial is broken... there's only one post I made of it, on a forum. The forum language is Brazilian Portuguese, but you can access it through Google translator: https://www.hardware.com.br/comunidade/gimp-criando/1530031/

Even the gimp file I made at the time is attached to the post.