The transparency of photoresist films to ultraviolet light may be increased without sacrificing photospeed or resolution of the photoresist by including ultraviolet light transparent nanoparticles to the photoresist formulations. The ultraviolet light transparent nanoparticles may be included in the photoresist formulations as filler to "dilute" the ultraviolet light opacity of the photoresist, as side-chains to the photoimageable species that form the photoresist matrix, or as the photoimageable species themselves that form the backbone of the photoresist matrix. The photoresist formulation may also be a hybrid solution of any of these variations on the inclusion of the ultraviolet light transparent nanoparticles. The ultraviolet light transparent nanoparticles may mostly contain carbon or silicon.