How to read the RGB value of a given pixel in Pyth

Question

If I open an image with open("image.jpg"), how can I get the RGB values of a pixel assuming I have the coordinates of the pixel?

Then, how can I do the reverse of this? Starting with a blank graphic, 'write' a pixel with a certain RGB value?

I would prefer if I didn't have to download any additional libraries.

Answer 1

It's probably best to use the Python Image Library to do this which I'm afraid is a separate download.

The easiest way to do what you want is via the load() method on the Image object which returns a pixel access object which you can manipulate like an array:

from PIL import Image

im = Image.open('dead_parrot.jpg') # Can be many different formats.
pix = im.load()
print im.size  # Get the width and hight of the image for iterating over
print pix[x,y]  # Get the RGBA Value of the a pixel of an image
pix[x,y] = value  # Set the RGBA Value of the image (tuple)
im.save('alive_parrot.png')  # Save the modified pixels as .png

Alternatively, look at ImageDraw which gives a much richer API for creating images.

Answer 2

from PIL import Image
def rgb_of_pixel(img_path, x, y):
    im = Image.open(img_path).convert('RGB')
    r, g, b = im.getpixel((x, y))
    a = (r, g, b)
    return a

Answer 3

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import matplotlib.image as mpimg

img=mpimg.imread('Cricket_ACT_official_logo.png')
imgplot = plt.imshow(img)

Answer 4

There's a really good article on wiki.wxpython.org entitled Working With Images. The article mentions the possiblity of using wxWidgets (wxImage), PIL or PythonMagick. Personally, I've used PIL and wxWidgets and both make image manipulation fairly easy.

Answer 5

You could use the Tkinter module, which is the standard Python interface to the Tk GUI toolkit and you don't need extra download. See https://docs.python.org/2/library/tkinter.html.

(For Python 3, Tkinter is renamed to tkinter)

Here is how to set RGB values:

#from http://tkinter.unpythonic.net/wiki/PhotoImage
from Tkinter import *

root = Tk()

def pixel(image, pos, color):
    """Place pixel at pos=(x,y) on image, with color=(r,g,b)."""
    r,g,b = color
    x,y = pos
    image.put("#%02x%02x%02x" % (r,g,b), (y, x))

photo = PhotoImage(width=32, height=32)

pixel(photo, (16,16), (255,0,0))  # One lone pixel in the middle...

label = Label(root, image=photo)
label.grid()
root.mainloop()

And get RGB:

#from http://www.kosbie.net/cmu/spring-14/15-112/handouts/steganographyEncoder.py
def getRGB(image, x, y):
    value = image.get(x, y)
    return tuple(map(int, value.split(" ")))

Answer 6

Image manipulation is a complex topic, and it's best if you do use a library. I can recommend gdmodule which provides easy access to many different image formats from within Python.