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Example
Concepts
Functions
Methods
Options
Compatibility

The ImageDraw Module

The ImageDraw module provide simple 2D graphics for Image objects. You can use this module to create new images, annotate or retouch existing images, and to generate graphics on the fly for web use.

Example

Draw a Grey Cross Over an Image
import Image, ImageDraw

im = Image.open("lena.pgm")

draw = ImageDraw.Draw(im)
draw.line((0, 0) + im.size, fill=128)
draw.line((0, im.size[1], im.size[0], 0), fill=128)
del draw 

# write to stdout
im.save(sys.stdout, "PNG")

Concepts

Coordinates

The graphics interface uses the same coordinate system as PIL itself, with (0, 0) in the upper left corner.

Colours

To specify colours, you can use numbers or tuples just as you would use with Image.new or Image.putpixel. For "1", "L", and "I" images, use integers. For "RGB" images, use a 3-tuple containing integer values. For "F" images, use integer or floating point values.

For palette images (mode "P"), use integers as colour indexes. In 1.1.4 and later, you can also use RGB 3-tuples or colour names (see below). The drawing layer will automatically assign colour indexes, as long as you don't draw with more than 256 colours.

Colour Names

In PIL 1.1.4 and later, you can also use string constants when drawing in "RGB" images. PIL supports the following string formats:

Fonts

PIL can use bitmap fonts or OpenType/TrueType fonts.

Bitmap fonts are stored in PIL's own format, where each font typically consists of a two files, one named .pil and the other usually named .pbm. The former contains font metrics, the latter raster data.

To load a bitmap font, use the load functions in the ImageFont module.

To load a OpenType/TrueType font, use the truetype function in the ImageFont module. Note that OpenType/TrueType support is optional, and may not be supported by all PIL builds.

Functions

Draw

Draw(image) => Draw instance

Creates an object that can be used to draw in the given image.

Note that the image will be modified in place.

Methods

arc

draw.arc(xy, start, end, options)

Draws an arc (a portion of a circle outline) between the start and end angles, inside the given bounding box.

The outline option gives the colour to use for the arc.

bitmap

draw.bitmap(xy, bitmap, options)

Draws a bitmap at the given position, using the current fill colour.

chord

draw.chord(xy, start, end, options)

Same as arc, but connects the end points with a straight line.

The outline option gives the colour to use for the chord outline. The fill option gives the colour to use for the chord interior.

ellipse

draw.ellipse(xy, options)

Draws an ellipse inside the given bounding box.

The outline option gives the colour to use for the ellipse outline. The fill option gives the colour to use for the ellipse interior.

line

draw.line(xy, options)

Draws a line between the coordinates in the xy list.

The coordinate list can be any sequence object containing either 2-tuples [ (x, y), ... ] or numeric values [ x, y, ... ]. It should contain at least two coordinates.

The fill option gives the colour to use for the line.

pieslice

draw.pieslice(xy, start, end, options)

Same as arc, but also draws straight lines between the end points and the center of the bounding box.

The outline option gives the colour to use for the pieslice outline. The fill option gives the colour to use for the pieslice interior.

point

draw.point(xy, options)

Draws points (individual pixels) at the given coordinates.

The coordinate list can be any sequence object containing either 2-tuples [ (x, y), ... ] or numeric values [ x, y, ... ].

The fill option gives the colour to use for the points.

polygon

draw.polygon(xy, options)

Draws a polygon.

The polygon outline consists of straight lines between the given coordinates, plus a straight line between the last and the first coordinate.

The coordinate list can be any sequence object containing either 2-tuples [ (x, y), ... ] or numeric values [ x, y, ... ]. It should contain at least three coordinates.

The outline option gives the colour to use for the polygon outline. The fill option gives the colour to use for the polygon interior.

rectangle

draw.rectangle(box, options)

Draws a rectangle.

The box can be any sequence object containing either 2-tuples [ (x, y), (x, y) ] or numeric values [ x, y, x, y ]. It should contain two coordinates.

Note that the second coordinate pair defines a point just outside the rectangle, also when the rectangle is not filled.

The outline option gives the colour to use for the rectangle outline. The fill option gives the colour to use for the rectangle interior.

text

draw.text(position, string, options)

Draws the string at the given position. The position gives the upper right corner of the text.

The font option is used to specify which font to use. It should be an instance of the ImageFont class, typically loaded from file using the load method in the ImageFont module.

The fill option gives the colour to use for the text.

textsize

draw.textsize(string, options) => (width, height)

Return the size of the given string, in pixels.

The font option is used to specify which font to use. It should be an instance of the ImageFont class, typically loaded from file using the load method in the ImageFont module.

Options

outline

outline integer or tuple

fill

fill integer or tuple

font

font ImageFont instance

Compatibility

The Draw class contains a constructor and a number of methods which are provided for backwards compatibility only. For this to work properly, you should either use options on the drawing primitives, or these methods. Do not mix the old and new calling conventions.

ImageDraw

ImageDraw(image) => Draw instance

(Deprecated). Same as Draw. Don't use this name in new code.

setink

draw.setink(ink)

(Deprecated). Sets the colour to use for subsequent draw and fill operations.

setfill

draw.setfill(mode)

(Deprecated). Sets the fill mode.

If the mode is 0, subsequently drawn shapes (like polygons and rectangles) are outlined. If the mode is 1, they are filled.

setfont

draw.setfont(font)

(Deprecated). Sets the default font to use for the text method.

The font argument should be an instance of the ImageFont class, typically loaded from file using the load method in the ImageFont module.

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