# Saving Makie plot as is on the screen?

**URL:** <https://discourse.julialang.org/t/saving-makie-plot-as-is-on-the-screen/24276>\
**Category:** Visualization\
**Tags:** plotting, makie\
**Created:** [May 16, 2019, 11:04am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/saving-makie-plot-as-is-on-the-screen/24276 "2019-05-16T11:04:19Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 9\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![cserteGT3](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/csertegt3/32/8283_2.png) [@cserteGT3](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/cserteGT3)\
**Post date:** [May 16, 2019, 11:04am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/saving-makie-plot-as-is-on-the-screen/24276/1 "2019-05-16T11:04:19Z")

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I noticed that if I plot something with Makie, then zoom-pan in the GUI, then I save with `Makie.save()`, the originally plotted “version” will be saved. I understand this behaviour.  
But, is there a way to save the plot as-is (after zooming, etc.)? For 3D shapes (which I am working with currently) that would be really convinient.

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**Author:** ![sdanisch](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/sdanisch/32/1406_2.png) [@sdanisch](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/sdanisch)\
**Post date:** [May 16, 2019, 11:06am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/saving-makie-plot-as-is-on-the-screen/24276/2 "2019-05-16T11:06:15Z")

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```julia
scene.center = false
save("test.png", scene)

```

I should figure out a way how to make this behaviour the default, without changing the centering behaviour 😉

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![cserteGT3](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/csertegt3/32/8283_2.png) [@cserteGT3](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/cserteGT3)\
**Post date:** [May 16, 2019, 11:10am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/saving-makie-plot-as-is-on-the-screen/24276/3 "2019-05-16T11:10:19Z")

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Ohh, I didn’t thought that this is the same “issue” as here:  
[Moving camera then saving picture in Makie](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/moving-camera-then-saving-picture-in-makie/21938)  
And thank you for the quick answer!

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**Author:** ![cserteGT3](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/csertegt3/32/8283_2.png) [@cserteGT3](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/cserteGT3)\
**Post date:** [October 25, 2024, 12:03pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/saving-makie-plot-as-is-on-the-screen/24276/4 "2024-10-25T12:03:49Z")

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For future me, having the same problem, this is a current good solution:

> [@Zoom in GLMakie 3d plot then save](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/zoom-in-glmakie-3d-plot-then-save/65745/15):
>
> display(fig, update=false) and save(fig, update=false) should work.

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**Author:** ![AMB](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/amb/32/211738_2.png) [@AMB](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/AMB)\
**Post date:** [October 27, 2025, 11:20pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/saving-makie-plot-as-is-on-the-screen/24276/5 "2025-10-27T23:20:02Z")

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```julia-auto
     type Makie.Scene has no field `center`

```

Is there a new, equally simple way to do this? Did this approach also cover zoom or just center?

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**Author:** ![asinghvi17](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/asinghvi17/32/8272_2.png) [@asinghvi17](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/asinghvi17)\
**Post date:** [October 30, 2025, 1:02am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/saving-makie-plot-as-is-on-the-screen/24276/6 "2025-10-30T01:02:01Z")

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I don’t think there is at the moment. But LScene should probably get a `center` attribute that stops it from being auto-centered on display…

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**Author:** ![raman\_kumar](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/raman_kumar/32/26782_2.png) [@raman\_kumar](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/raman_kumar)\
**Post date:** [December 9, 2025, 11:02pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/saving-makie-plot-as-is-on-the-screen/24276/7 "2025-12-09T23:02:39Z")

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I also want to create many 3D plots. I will zoom and rotate each to same extent and save them. How to do it?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![cserteGT3](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/csertegt3/32/8283_2.png) [@cserteGT3](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/cserteGT3)\
**Post date:** [December 10, 2025, 10:01am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/saving-makie-plot-as-is-on-the-screen/24276/8 "2025-12-10T10:01:45Z")

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Setting `update=false` should solve this:

```julia-auto
save("filename.png", fig, update=false)

```

I use this for 3D plots as well.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![AMB](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/amb/32/211738_2.png) [@AMB](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/AMB)\
**Post date:** [December 12, 2025, 9:02pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/saving-makie-plot-as-is-on-the-screen/24276/9 "2025-12-12T21:02:02Z")

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I feel like I tried this when I saw you first suggest it, without it working. But I just tried it again and… _success_! Thanks.