@@ -72,9 +72,6 @@ def do_constrained_layout(fig, h_pad, w_pad,
     fig : Figure
         ``Figure`` instance to do the layout in.
 
-    renderer : Renderer
-        Renderer to use.
-
     h_pad, w_pad : float
       Padding around the axes elements in figure-normalized units.
 
@@ -675,7 +672,7 @@ def reposition_colorbar(layoutgrids, cbax, renderer, *, offset=None):
     cbax : Axes
         Axes for the colorbar
 
-    renderer :
+    renderer : `~matplotlib.backend_bases.RendererBase` subclass
     w_pad, h_pad : float
         width and height padding (in fraction of figure)
     hspace, wspace : float
 
@@ -202,7 +202,7 @@ def get_tight_layout_figure(fig, axes_list, subplotspec_list, renderer,
     axes_list : list of Axes
     subplotspec_list : list of `.SubplotSpec`
         The subplotspecs of each axes.
-    renderer : renderer
+    renderer : `~matplotlib.backend_bases.RendererBase` subclass
     pad : float
         Padding between the figure edge and the edges of subplots, as a
         fraction of the font size.
 
@@ -353,7 +353,7 @@ def get_tightbbox(self, renderer=None):
 
         Parameters
         ----------
-        renderer : `.RendererBase` subclass
+        renderer : `~matplotlib.backend_bases.RendererBase` subclass, optional
             renderer that will be used to draw the figures (i.e.
             ``fig.canvas.get_renderer()``)
 
@@ -440,7 +440,7 @@ def set_transform(self, t):
 
         Parameters
         ----------
-        t : `.Transform`
+        t : `~matplotlib.transforms.Transform`
         """
         self._transform = t
         self._transformSet = True
@@ -733,7 +733,7 @@ def set_figure(self, fig):
 
         Parameters
         ----------
-        fig : `.Figure`
+        fig : `~matplotlib.figure.Figure`
         """
         # if this is a no-op just return
         if self.figure is fig:
@@ -757,16 +757,17 @@ def set_clip_box(self, clipbox):
 
         Parameters
         ----------
-        clipbox : `.Bbox`
+        clipbox : `~matplotlib.transforms.Bbox`
 
-            Typically would be created from a `.TransformedBbox`. For
+            Will typically be created from a `.TransformedBbox`. For
             instance ``TransformedBbox(Bbox([[0, 0], [1, 1]]), ax.transAxes)``
             is the default clipping for an artist added to an Axes.
 
         """
-        self.clipbox = clipbox
-        self.pchanged()
-        self.stale = True
+        if clipbox != self.clipbox:
+            self.clipbox = clipbox
+            self.pchanged()
+            self.stale = True
 
     def set_clip_path(self, path, transform=None):
         """
@@ -987,7 +988,7 @@ def draw(self, renderer):
 
         Parameters
         ----------
-        renderer : `.RendererBase` subclass.
+        renderer : `~matplotlib.backend_bases.RendererBase` subclass.
 
         Notes
         -----
@@ -1011,9 +1012,10 @@ def set_alpha(self, alpha):
                 f'alpha must be numeric or None, not {type(alpha)}')
         if alpha is not None and not (0 <= alpha <= 1):
             raise ValueError(f'alpha ({alpha}) is outside 0-1 range')
-        self._alpha = alpha
-        self.pchanged()
-        self.stale = True
+        if alpha != self._alpha:
+            self._alpha = alpha
+            self.pchanged()
+            self.stale = True
 
     def _set_alpha_for_array(self, alpha):
         """
@@ -1046,9 +1048,10 @@ def set_visible(self, b):
         ----------
         b : bool
         """
-        self._visible = b
-        self.pchanged()
-        self.stale = True
+        if b != self._visible:
+            self._visible = b
+            self.pchanged()
+            self.stale = True
 
     def set_animated(self, b):
         """
@@ -1096,9 +1099,11 @@ def set_label(self, s):
         s : object
             *s* will be converted to a string by calling `str`.
         """
-        self._label = str(s) if s is not None else None
-        self.pchanged()
-        self.stale = True
+        label = str(s) if s is not None else None
+        if label != self._label:
+            self._label = label
+            self.pchanged()
+            self.stale = True
 
     def get_zorder(self):
         """Return the artist's zorder."""
@@ -1115,9 +1120,10 @@ def set_zorder(self, level):
         """
         if level is None:
             level = self.__class__.zorder
-        self.zorder = level
-        self.pchanged()
-        self.stale = True
+        if level != self.zorder:
+            self.zorder = level
+            self.pchanged()
+            self.stale = True
 
     @property
     def sticky_edges(self):
 
@@ -68,9 +68,9 @@ class Axes(_AxesBase):
 
     Attributes
     ----------
-    dataLim : `.Bbox`
+    dataLim : `~matplotlib.transforms.Bbox`
         The bounding box enclosing all data displayed in the Axes.
-    viewLim : `.Bbox`
+    viewLim : `~matplotlib.transforms.Bbox`
         The view limits in data coordinates.
 
     """
@@ -337,7 +337,7 @@ def inset_axes(self, bounds, *, transform=None, zorder=5, **kwargs):
         bounds : [x0, y0, width, height]
             Lower-left corner of inset Axes, and its width and height.
 
-        transform : `.Transform`
+        transform : `~matplotlib.transforms.Transform`
             Defaults to `ax.transAxes`, i.e. the units of *rect* are in
             Axes-relative coordinates.
 
@@ -422,7 +422,7 @@ def indicate_inset(self, bounds, inset_ax=None, *, transform=None,
             drawn connecting the indicator box to the inset Axes on corners
             chosen so as to not overlap with the indicator box.
 
-        transform : `.Transform`
+        transform : `~matplotlib.transforms.Transform`
             Transform for the rectangle coordinates. Defaults to
             `ax.transAxes`, i.e. the units of *rect* are in Axes-relative
             coordinates.
@@ -447,7 +447,7 @@ def indicate_inset(self, bounds, inset_ax=None, *, transform=None,
 
         Returns
         -------
-        rectangle_patch : `.patches.Rectangle`
+        rectangle_patch : `~matplotlib.patches.Rectangle`
              The indicator frame.
 
         connector_lines : 4-tuple of `.patches.ConnectionPatch`
@@ -533,7 +533,7 @@ def indicate_inset_zoom(self, inset_ax, **kwargs):
 
         Returns
         -------
-        rectangle_patch : `.patches.Rectangle`
+        rectangle_patch : `~matplotlib.patches.Rectangle`
              Rectangle artist.
 
         connector_lines : 4-tuple of `.patches.ConnectionPatch`
 
@@ -4319,7 +4319,7 @@ def get_tightbbox(self, renderer=None, call_axes_locator=True,
 
         Parameters
         ----------
-        renderer : `.RendererBase` subclass
+        renderer : `~matplotlib.backend_bases.RendererBase` subclass, optional
             renderer that will be used to draw the figures (i.e.
             ``fig.canvas.get_renderer()``)
 
 
@@ -1299,7 +1299,7 @@ class DrawEvent(Event):
 
     Attributes
     ----------
-    renderer : `RendererBase`
+    renderer : `~matplotlib.backend_bases.RendererBase` subclass
         The renderer for the draw event.
     """
     def __init__(self, name, canvas, renderer):
 
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ class ToolManager:
 
     Attributes
     ----------
-    figure : `.Figure`
+    figure : `~matplotlib.figure.Figure`
     keypresslock : `~matplotlib.widgets.LockDraw`
         `.LockDraw` object to know if the `canvas` key_press_event is locked.
     messagelock : `~matplotlib.widgets.LockDraw`
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ def set_figure(self, figure, update_tools=True):
 
         Parameters
         ----------
-        figure : `.Figure`
+        figure : `~matplotlib.figure.Figure`
         update_tools : bool, default: True
             Force tools to update figure.
         """
 
@@ -2733,7 +2733,7 @@ def savefig(self, figure=None, **kwargs):
 
         Parameters
         ----------
-        figure : `.Figure` or int, default: the active figure
+        figure : `~matplotlib.figure.Figure` or int, default: the active figure
             The figure, or index of the figure, that is saved to the file.
         """
         if not isinstance(figure, Figure):
 
@@ -969,7 +969,7 @@ def savefig(self, figure=None, **kwargs):
 
         Parameters
         ----------
-        figure : `.Figure` or int, default: the active figure
+        figure : `~matplotlib.figure.Figure` or int, default: the active figure
             The figure, or index of the figure, that is saved to the file.
         """
         if not isinstance(figure, Figure):
 
@@ -126,7 +126,8 @@ def __init__(self, *,
             A vector by which to translate each patch after rendering (default
             is no translation). The translation is performed in screen (pixel)
             coordinates (i.e. after the Artist's transform is applied).
-        offset_transform : `~.Transform`, default: `.IdentityTransform`
+        offset_transform : `~matplotlib.transforms.Transform`, default: \
+`.IdentityTransform`
             A single transform which will be applied to each *offsets* vector
             before it is used.
         cmap, norm
@@ -228,7 +229,7 @@ def set_offset_transform(self, offset_transform):
 
         Parameters
         ----------
-        offset_transform : `.Transform`
+        offset_transform : `~matplotlib.transforms.Transform`
         """
         self._offset_transform = offset_transform