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{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"DiscussionForumPosting","headline":"[ENH]: pickle (or save) matplotlib figure with insteractive slider","articleBody":"### Problem\n\nI'd like to save/pickle a matplotlib figure containing a `matplotlib.widgets.Widget` object to send it to a colleague without him having to run the code I use to generate it.\r\n\r\nI know since matplotlib version 1.2 `matplotlib.figure.Figure` are pickable. However, when the figure contains a `matplotlib.widgets.Widget`, pickle fails to save it.\r\n\r\nFor example consider this class:\r\n\r\n```\r\nimport matplotlib.pyplot as plt\r\nimport matplotlib.widgets as widgets\r\n\r\nimport numpy as np\r\n\r\nimport pickle as pkl\r\n\r\nclass interactive_plot():\r\n\r\n    def __init__(self, add_slider):\r\n\r\n        self.fig, self.axs = plt.subplots(2,1, gridspec_kw={'height_ratios':[10,1]})\r\n\r\n        self.x_plot = np.linspace(0,10,1000)\r\n        self.line = self.axs[0].plot(self.x_plot, self.x_plot*0)[0]\r\n        self.axs[0].set_ylim((0,10))\r\n        self.axs[0].grid()\r\n        self.axs[0].set_title(r'$y = x^\\alpha$')\r\n\r\n        if add_slider:\r\n            self.slider= widgets.Slider(\r\n                self.axs[1],\r\n                label   = r'$\\alpha$',\r\n                valmin  = 0,\r\n                valmax  = 5,\r\n                valinit = 0,\r\n                valstep = .01\r\n                )\r\n            self.slider.on_changed(self.update)\r\n\r\n    def update(self, val):\r\n        self.line.set_ydata(self.x_plot**val)\r\n```\r\n\r\nIf I run\r\n\r\n```\r\nh = interactive_plot(add_slider=False)\r\nwith open('test.pkl','wb') as f: pkl.dump(h, f)\r\n```\r\nall works properly. However\r\n```\r\nh = interactive_plot(add_slider=True)\r\nwith open('test.pkl','wb') as f: pkl.dump(h, f)\r\n```\r\nreturns\r\n```\r\nTraceback (most recent call last):\r\n\r\n  File \"C:\\Users\\user\\Desktop\\test.py\", line 47, in \u003cmodule\u003e\r\n    with open('test.pkl','wb') as f: pkl.dump(h, f)\r\n\r\nTypeError: cannot pickle 'FigureCanvasQTAgg' object\r\n```\r\n\r\nIs there a way to workaround this?\r\n\r\nDISCLAIMER: The same question was posted here https://stackoverflow.com/questions/71145817/pickle-or-save-matplotlib-figure-with-insteractive-slider\n\n### Proposed solution\n\n_No response_","author":{"url":"https://github.com/LucaAmerio","@type":"Person","name":"LucaAmerio"},"datePublished":"2022-02-17T16:40:19.000Z","interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":"https://schema.org/CommentAction","userInteractionCount":3},"url":"https://github.com/22482/matplotlib/issues/22482"}