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.