Pillow is a powerful and user-friendly Python imaging library, letting you open, edit, create, and save images in many formats. Pillow is the actively maintained fork of the original PIL.
Install it with:
pip install Pillow
Then import it at the top of your Python files.
from PIL import Image
You can open .jpg, .png, .gif, .bmp, .tiff, and more.
img = Image.open('image.jpg') # Open an image file
img.show() # Opens the image in the default viewer
print(img.format) # JPEG, PNG, etc.
print(img.size) # (width, height)
print(img.mode) # Color mode (e.g., RGB, L, RGBA)
# Resize:
resized = img.resize((200, 200))
# Crop:
cropped = img.crop((left, top, right, bottom)) # Coordinates tuple
# Rotate / Flip:
rotated = img.rotate(90) # Degrees counter-clockwise
flipped = img.transpose(Image.FLIP_LEFT_RIGHT)
gray = img.convert('L') # Convert to grayscale
rgba = img.convert('RGBA') # Add alpha channel
You can draw lines, rectangles, ellipses, and more.
from PIL import ImageDraw
draw = ImageDraw.Draw(img)
draw.text((10, 10), "Hello!", fill=(255, 255, 255)) # Add text
img.save('new_image.jpg') # Saves in JPEG format
img.save('new_image.png', 'PNG') # Specify format if needed
This only works on mutable modes like "RGB" or "RGBA".
# Access a pixel:
pixel = img.getpixel((50, 100)) # Get pixel at (x=50, y=100)
# Modify a pixel:
img.putpixel((50, 100), (255, 0, 0)) # Set pixel to red
| Mode | Description |
|---|---|
| 1 | Black and white |
| L | Grayscale |
| RGB | Red, Green, Blue |
| RGBA | RGB with Alpha (transparency) |
| CMYK | Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black |
# Open, Resize, Add Text, and Save
from PIL import Image, ImageDraw, ImageFont
# Open
img = Image.open('photo.jpg')
# Resize
img = img.resize((300, 300))
# Add Text
draw = ImageDraw.Draw(img)
draw.text((10, 10), "Sample", fill=(255, 255, 255))
# Save
img.save('photo_modified.jpg')