# Pillow Documentation
# Source: https://pillow.readthedocs.io/en/latest/handbook/overview.html
# Path: handbook/overview.html

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[Pillow (PIL Fork) 12.1.0.dev0 documentation](../index.html)

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  * [Installation](../installation/index.html)
    * [Basic installation](../installation/basic-installation.html)
    * [Python support](../installation/python-support.html)
    * [Platform support](../installation/platform-support.html)
    * [Building from source](../installation/building-from-source.html)
    * [Old versions](../installation/building-from-source.html#old-versions)
  * [Handbook](index.html)
    * Overview
    * [Tutorial](tutorial.html)
    * [Concepts](concepts.html)
    * [Appendices](appendices.html)
      * [Image file formats](image-file-formats.html)
      * [Text anchors](text-anchors.html)
      * [Third-party plugins](third-party-plugins.html)
      * [Writing your own image plugin](writing-your-own-image-plugin.html)
      * [Decoders](writing-your-own-image-plugin.html#decoders)
      * [Writing your own file codec in C](writing-your-own-image-plugin.html#writing-your-own-file-codec-in-c)
      * [Writing your own file codec in Python](writing-your-own-image-plugin.html#writing-your-own-file-codec-in-python)
  * [Reference](../reference/index.html)
    * [`Image` module](../reference/Image.html)
    * [`ImageChops` (“channel operations”) module](../reference/ImageChops.html)
    * [`ImageCms` module](../reference/ImageCms.html)
    * [`ImageColor` module](../reference/ImageColor.html)
    * [`ImageDraw` module](../reference/ImageDraw.html)
    * [`ImageEnhance` module](../reference/ImageEnhance.html)
    * [`ImageFile` module](../reference/ImageFile.html)
    * [`ImageFilter` module](../reference/ImageFilter.html)
    * [`ImageFont` module](../reference/ImageFont.html)
    * [`ImageGrab` module](../reference/ImageGrab.html)
    * [`ImageMath` module](../reference/ImageMath.html)
    * [`ImageMorph` module](../reference/ImageMorph.html)
    * [`ImageOps` module](../reference/ImageOps.html)
    * [`ImagePalette` module](../reference/ImagePalette.html)
    * [`ImagePath` module](../reference/ImagePath.html)
    * [`ImageQt` module](../reference/ImageQt.html)
    * [`ImageSequence` module](../reference/ImageSequence.html)
    * [`ImageShow` module](../reference/ImageShow.html)
    * [`ImageStat` module](../reference/ImageStat.html)
    * [`ImageText` module](../reference/ImageText.html)
    * [`ImageTk` module](../reference/ImageTk.html)
    * [`ImageTransform` module](../reference/ImageTransform.html)
    * [`ImageWin` module (Windows-only)](../reference/ImageWin.html)
    * [`ExifTags` module](../reference/ExifTags.html)
    * [`TiffTags` module](../reference/TiffTags.html)
    * [`JpegPresets` module](../reference/JpegPresets.html)
    * [`PSDraw` module](../reference/PSDraw.html)
    * [`PixelAccess` class](../reference/PixelAccess.html)
    * [`features` module](../reference/features.html)
    * [PIL package (autodoc of remaining modules)](../PIL.html)
    * [Plugin reference](../reference/plugins.html)
    * [Internal reference](../reference/internal_design.html)
      * [File handling in Pillow](../reference/open_files.html)
      * [Limits](../reference/limits.html)
      * [Block allocator](../reference/block_allocator.html)
      * [Internal modules](../reference/internal_modules.html)
      * [C extension debugging on Linux, with GBD/Valgrind](../reference/c_extension_debugging.html)
      * [Arrow support](../reference/arrow_support.html)
  * [Porting](../porting.html)
  * [About](../about.html)
  * [Release notes](../releasenotes/index.html)
    * [Versioning](../releasenotes/versioning.html)
    * [12.1.0 (unreleased)](../releasenotes/12.1.0.html)
    * [12.0.0 (2025-10-15)](../releasenotes/12.0.0.html)
    * [11.3.0 (2025-07-01)](../releasenotes/11.3.0.html)
    * [11.2.1 (2025-04-12)](../releasenotes/11.2.1.html)
    * [11.1.0 (2025-01-02)](../releasenotes/11.1.0.html)
    * [11.0.0 (2024-10-15)](../releasenotes/11.0.0.html)
    * [10.4.0 (2024-07-01)](../releasenotes/10.4.0.html)
    * [10.3.0 (2024-04-01)](../releasenotes/10.3.0.html)
    * [10.2.0 (2024-01-02)](../releasenotes/10.2.0.html)
    * [10.1.0 (2023-10-15)](../releasenotes/10.1.0.html)
    * [10.0.1 (2023-09-15)](../releasenotes/10.0.1.html)
    * [10.0.0 (2023-07-01)](../releasenotes/10.0.0.html)
    * [9.5.0 (2023-04-01)](../releasenotes/9.5.0.html)
    * [9.4.0 (2023-01-02)](../releasenotes/9.4.0.html)
    * [9.3.0 (2022-10-29)](../releasenotes/9.3.0.html)
    * [9.2.0 (2022-07-01)](../releasenotes/9.2.0.html)
    * [9.1.1 (2022-05-17)](../releasenotes/9.1.1.html)
    * [9.1.0 (2022-04-01)](../releasenotes/9.1.0.html)
    * [9.0.1 (2022-02-03)](../releasenotes/9.0.1.html)
    * [9.0.0 (2022-01-02)](../releasenotes/9.0.0.html)
    * [8.4.0 (2021-10-15)](../releasenotes/8.4.0.html)
    * [8.3.2 (2021-09-02)](../releasenotes/8.3.2.html)
    * [8.3.1 (2021-07-06)](../releasenotes/8.3.1.html)
    * [8.3.0 (2021-07-01)](../releasenotes/8.3.0.html)
    * [8.2.0 (2021-04-01)](../releasenotes/8.2.0.html)
    * [8.1.2 (2021-03-06)](../releasenotes/8.1.2.html)
    * [8.1.1 (2021-03-01)](../releasenotes/8.1.1.html)
    * [8.1.0 (2021-01-02)](../releasenotes/8.1.0.html)
    * [8.0.1 (2020-10-22)](../releasenotes/8.0.1.html)
    * [8.0.0 (2020-10-14)](../releasenotes/8.0.0.html)
    * [7.2.0 (2020-06-30)](../releasenotes/7.2.0.html)
    * [7.1.2 (2020-04-25)](../releasenotes/7.1.2.html)
    * [7.1.1 (2020-04-02)](../releasenotes/7.1.1.html)
    * [7.1.0 (2020-04-01)](../releasenotes/7.1.0.html)
    * [7.0.0 (2020-01-02)](../releasenotes/7.0.0.html)
    * [6.2.2 (2020-01-02)](../releasenotes/6.2.2.html)
    * [6.2.1 (2019-10-20)](../releasenotes/6.2.1.html)
    * [6.2.0 (2019-10-01)](../releasenotes/6.2.0.html)
    * [6.1.0 (2019-07-02)](../releasenotes/6.1.0.html)
    * [6.0.0 (2019-04-02)](../releasenotes/6.0.0.html)
    * [5.4.1 (2019-01-06)](../releasenotes/5.4.1.html)
    * [5.4.0 (2019-01-01)](../releasenotes/5.4.0.html)
    * [5.3.0 (2018-10-01)](../releasenotes/5.3.0.html)
    * [5.2.0 (2018-07-01)](../releasenotes/5.2.0.html)
    * [5.1.0 (2018-04-02)](../releasenotes/5.1.0.html)
    * [5.0.0 (2018-01-01)](../releasenotes/5.0.0.html)
    * [4.3.0 (2017-10-02)](../releasenotes/4.3.0.html)
    * [4.2.1 (2017-07-06)](../releasenotes/4.2.1.html)
    * [4.2.0 (2017-07-01)](../releasenotes/4.2.0.html)
    * [4.1.1 (2017-04-28)](../releasenotes/4.1.1.html)
    * [4.1.0 (2017-04-03)](../releasenotes/4.1.0.html)
    * [4.0.0 (2017-01-01)](../releasenotes/4.0.0.html)
    * [3.4.0 (2016-10-03)](../releasenotes/3.4.0.html)
    * [3.3.2 (2016-09-29)](../releasenotes/3.3.2.html)
    * [3.3.0 (2016-07-01)](../releasenotes/3.3.0.html)
    * [3.2.0 (2016-04-01)](../releasenotes/3.2.0.html)
    * [3.1.2 (2016-04-01)](../releasenotes/3.1.2.html)
    * [3.1.1 (2016-02-04)](../releasenotes/3.1.1.html)
    * [3.1.0 (2016-01-04)](../releasenotes/3.1.0.html)
    * [3.0.0 (2015-10-01)](../releasenotes/3.0.0.html)
    * [2.8.0 (2015-04-01)](../releasenotes/2.8.0.html)
    * [2.7.0 (2014-12-31)](../releasenotes/2.7.0.html)
    * [2.6.0 (2014-10-01)](../releasenotes/2.6.0.html)
    * [2.5.2 (2014-08-12)](../releasenotes/2.5.2.html)
    * [2.3.2 (2014-08-12)](../releasenotes/2.3.2.html)
    * [2.3.1 (2014-03-14)](../releasenotes/2.3.1.html)
  * [Deprecations and removals](../deprecations.html)

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[ View this page ](../_sources/handbook/overview.rst.txt "View this page")

# Overview¶

The **Python Imaging Library** adds image processing capabilities to your
Python interpreter.

This library provides extensive file format support, an efficient internal
representation, and fairly powerful image processing capabilities.

The core image library is designed for fast access to data stored in a few
basic pixel formats. It should provide a solid foundation for a general image
processing tool.

Let’s look at a few possible uses of this library.

## Image archives¶

The Python Imaging Library is ideal for image archival and batch processing
applications. You can use the library to create thumbnails, convert between
file formats, print images, etc.

The current version identifies and reads a large number of formats. Write
support is intentionally restricted to the most commonly used interchange and
presentation formats.

## Image display¶

The current release includes Tk
[`PhotoImage`](../reference/ImageTk.html#PIL.ImageTk.PhotoImage
"PIL.ImageTk.PhotoImage") and
[`BitmapImage`](../reference/ImageTk.html#PIL.ImageTk.BitmapImage
"PIL.ImageTk.BitmapImage") interfaces, as well as a [`Windows DIB
interface`](../reference/ImageWin.html#module-PIL.ImageWin "PIL.ImageWin")
that can be used with PythonWin and other Windows-based toolkits. Many other
GUI toolkits come with some kind of PIL support.

For debugging, there’s also a
[`show()`](../reference/Image.html#PIL.Image.Image.show
"PIL.Image.Image.show") method which saves an image to disk, and calls an
external display utility.

## Image processing¶

The library contains basic image processing functionality, including point
operations, filtering with a set of built-in convolution kernels, and colour
space conversions.

The library also supports image resizing, rotation and arbitrary affine
transforms.

There’s a histogram method allowing you to pull some statistics out of an
image. This can be used for automatic contrast enhancement, and for global
statistical analysis.

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Copyright (C) 1995-2011 Fredrik Lundh and contributors, 2010 Jeffrey A. Clark
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On this page

  * Overview
    * Image archives
    * Image display
    * Image processing