Website: https://imageio.github.io

Imageio is a Python library that provides an easy interface to read and write a wide range of image data, including animated images, video, volumetric data, and scientific formats. It is cross-platform, runs on Python 3.5+, and is easy to install.

import imageio
im = imageio.imread('imageio:chelsea.png')  # read a standard image
im.shape  # im is a numpy array
>> (300, 451, 3)
imageio.imwrite('~/chelsea-gray.jpg', im[:, :, 0])

• imread() and imwrite() - for single images
• mimread() and mimwrite() - for image series (animations)
• volread() and volwrite() - for volumetric image data
• get_reader() and get_writer() - for more control (e.g. streaming or compression)
• See the user api for more information

• Simple interface via a consise set of functions.
• Easy to install using conda or pip.
• Few dependencies (only Numpy and Pillow).
• Pure Python, runs on Python 3.5+, and Pypy
• Cross platform, runs on Windows, Linux, macOS
• Lots of supported formats.
• Can read from file names, file objects, zipfiles, http/ftp, and raw bytes.
• Easy to extend using plugins.
• Code quality is maintained with many tests and continuous integration.

Minimal requirements:

• Python 3.5+
• Numpy
• Pillow

Optional Python packages:

• imageio-ffmpeg (for working with video files)
• itk or SimpleITK (for ITK formats)
• astropy (for FITS plugin)
• osgeo (for GDAL plugin)

Still on an earlier version of Python? Imageio version 2.6.x supports Python 2.7 and 3.4.

If you use imageio for scientific work, we would appreciate a citation. We have a DOI!

To report a security vulnerability, please use the Tidelift security contact. Tidelift will coordinate the fix and disclosure.

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Imageio has a relatively simple core that provides a common interface to different file formats. This core takes care of reading from different sources (like http), and exposes a simple API for the plugins to access the raw data. All file formats are implemented in plugins. Additional plugins can easily be registered.

Imageio provides a wide range of image formats, including scientific formats. Any help with implementing more formats is very welcome!

The codebase adheres to (a subset of) the PEP8 style guides. We strive for maximum test coverage (100% for the core, >95% for each plugin).

Install a complete development environment:

pip install -r requirements.txt
pip install -e .

N.B. this does not include GDAL because it has awkward compiled dependencies

You may see failing test(s) due to missing installed components. On ubuntu, do sudo apt install libfreeimage3

Style checks, unit tests and coverage are controlled by invoke. Before committing, check these with:

# reformat code on python 3.6+
invoke autoformat
# check there are no style errors
invoke test --style
# check the tests pass
invoke test --unit
# check test coverage (re-runs tests)
invoke test --cover