How to limit matplotlib button_press_event to a single axis?

Question

This script:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
from matplotlib.widgets import Button

def fAccept(_):
  print(f'accepted')

def onclick(event):
  print(f'click  {event.xdata, event.ydata}')

fig, ax = plt.subplots()
fig.subplots_adjust(bottom=0.2)
fig.canvas.mpl_connect('button_press_event', onclick)
axAccept = fig.add_axes([0.7, 0.05, 0.1, 0.075])
bAccept = Button(axAccept, 'Accept')
bAccept.on_clicked(fAccept)
plt.show()

displays

Clicking on bAccept button calls onclick callback. Is there a way to limit onclick callback to the top axis? Alternatively, is there a way to distinguish event coordinates (0.5, 0.5) at the center of bAccept button (green circle) from (0.5, 0.5) coordinates at the center of the upper axis (red circle)?

amrita yadav · Accepted Answer · 2025-06-03 11:00:36Z

In the onclick callback, you can check if the event occurred in the main axes using:

if event.inaxes == ax:

Here's your modified code:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
from matplotlib.widgets import Button

def fAccept(_):
    print('accepted')

def onclick(event):
    if event.inaxes == ax:  # Only respond if click is inside the plot axis
        print(f'click  {event.xdata, event.ydata}')
    else:
        print('Click outside main axis, ignored.')

fig, ax = plt.subplots()
fig.subplots_adjust(bottom=0.2)

fig.canvas.mpl_connect('button_press_event', onclick)

axAccept = fig.add_axes([0.7, 0.05, 0.1, 0.075])
bAccept = Button(axAccept, 'Accept')
bAccept.on_clicked(fAccept)

plt.show()

event.inaxes tells you which axes the click occurred in.
If it's None, the click was outside all axes.
If it's axAccept, the click was on the button area.
If it's ax, the click was on the plot — so it’s safe to respond.

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