Python 2D image generation

Question

What are some of the better libraries for image generation in Python? If I were to implement a GOTCHA (for example's sake), thereby having to manipulate an image on the pixel level, what would my options be? Ideally I would like to save resulting image as a low-resolution jpeg, but this is mere wishing, I'll settle for any common image format.

Thank you for your attention.

Answer 1

The Python Imaging Library (PIL) is the de facto image manipulation library on Python. You can find it here , or through easy_install or pip if you have them.

Edit: PIL has not been updated in a while, but it has been forked and maintained under the name pillow . Just install it this way in a shell:

pip install Pillow

The import statements are still the same as PIL (eg, from PIL import image ) and is backward compatible.

Answer 2

Pillow is a fork of PIL that is still actively developed. While PIL is not dead it has been a number of years since the last release.

Answer 3

If you should generate text or other vector based images (and then save to .png or .jpg), you could also consider Cairo (PyCairo, in this case). I use it a lot. Otherwise, for pixel-level manipulation, PIL is the obvious choice.