How to save a Seaborn plot into a file

PythonPandasMatplotlibSeaborn

Python Problem Overview


I tried the following code (test_seaborn.py):

import matplotlib
matplotlib.use('Agg')
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
matplotlib.style.use('ggplot')
import seaborn as sns
sns.set()
df = sns.load_dataset('iris')
sns_plot = sns.pairplot(df, hue='species', size=2.5)
fig = sns_plot.get_figure()
fig.savefig("output.png")
#sns.plt.show()

But I get this error:

  Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "test_searborn.py", line 11, in <module>
    fig = sns_plot.get_figure()
AttributeError: 'PairGrid' object has no attribute 'get_figure'

I expect the final output.png will exist and look like this:

enter image description here

How can I resolve the problem?

Python Solutions


Solution 1 - Python

The following calls allow you to access the figure (Seaborn 0.8.1 compatible):

swarm_plot = sns.swarmplot(...)
fig = swarm_plot.get_figure()
fig.savefig("out.png") 

as seen previously in this answer.

The suggested solutions are incompatible with Seaborn 0.8.1. They give the following errors because the Seaborn interface has changed:

AttributeError: 'AxesSubplot' object has no attribute 'fig'
When trying to access the figure

AttributeError: 'AxesSubplot' object has no attribute 'savefig'
when trying to use the savefig directly as a function

UPDATE: I have recently used PairGrid object from seaborn to generate a plot similar to the one in this example. In this case, since GridPlot is not a plot object like, for example, sns.swarmplot, it has no get_figure() function. It is possible to directly access the matplotlib figure by:

fig = myGridPlotObject.fig

Solution 2 - Python

Some of the above solutions did not work for me. The .fig attribute was not found when I tried that and I was unable to use .savefig() directly. However, what did work was:

sns_plot.figure.savefig("output.png")

I am a newer Python user, so I do not know if this is due to an update. I wanted to mention it in case anybody else runs into the same issues as I did.

Solution 3 - Python

Fewer lines for 2019 searchers:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import seaborn as sns

df = sns.load_dataset('iris')
sns_plot = sns.pairplot(df, hue='species', height=2.5)
plt.savefig('output.png')

UPDATE NOTE: size was changed to height.

Solution 4 - Python

You should just be able to use the savefig method of sns_plot directly.

sns_plot.savefig("output.png")

For clarity with your code if you did want to access the matplotlib figure that sns_plot resides in then you can get it directly with

fig = sns_plot.fig

In this case there is no get_figure method as your code assumes.

Solution 5 - Python

I use distplot and get_figure to save picture successfully.

sns_hist = sns.distplot(df_train['SalePrice'])
fig = sns_hist.get_figure()
fig.savefig('hist.png')

Solution 6 - Python

I couldnt get the other answers to work and finally got this to work for me for matplotlib==3.2.1 . Its especially true if you are doing this within a for loop or some iterative approach.

sns.scatterplot(
    data=df_hourly, x="date_week", y="value",hue='variable'
)
plt.savefig('./f1.png')
plt.show()

Note that the savefig must be before the show call. Otherwise an empty image is saved.

Solution 7 - Python

Its also possible to just create a matplotlib figure object and then use plt.savefig(...):

from matplotlib import pyplot as plt
import seaborn as sns
import pandas as pd

df = sns.load_dataset('iris')
plt.figure() # Push new figure on stack
sns_plot = sns.pairplot(df, hue='species', size=2.5)
plt.savefig('output.png') # Save that figure

Solution 8 - Python

This works for me

import seaborn as sns
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
%matplotlib inline

sns.factorplot(x='holiday',data=data,kind='count',size=5,aspect=1)
plt.savefig('holiday-vs-count.png')

Solution 9 - Python

You would get an error for using sns.figure.savefig("output.png") in seaborn 0.8.1.

Instead use:

import seaborn as sns

df = sns.load_dataset('iris')
sns_plot = sns.pairplot(df, hue='species', size=2.5)
sns_plot.savefig("output.png")

Solution 10 - Python

Just FYI, the below command worked in seaborn 0.8.1 so I guess the initial answer is still valid.

sns_plot = sns.pairplot(data, hue='species', size=3)
sns_plot.savefig("output.png")

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QuestionneversaintView Question on Stackoverflow
Solution 1 - PythonSalvatore CosentinoView Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 2 - PythonBazookaDaveView Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 3 - PythonJade CachoView Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 4 - PythonSimon GibbonsView Answer on Stackoverflow
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