Can I access ImageMagick API with Python?

python imagemagick image-manipulation ctypes
bsktball11ch picture bsktball11ch · Oct 25, 2011 · Viewed 46.9k times · Source

I need to use ImageMagick as PIL does not have the amount of image functionality available that I am looking for. However, I am wanting to use Python.

The python bindings (PythonMagick) have not been updated since 2009. The only thing I have been able to find is os.system calls to use the command line interface but this seems clunky.

Is there any way to access the API directly using ctypes and conversions of some sort? As a last resort is there any other library out there that has the extensive amount of image editing tools like ImageMagick that I have looked over?

Answer

Yauhen Yakimovich picture Yauhen Yakimovich · Jul 25, 2012

I would recommend using Wand (explanations follows).

I was looking for proper binding to ImageMagick library, that would:

  • work error/problem free
  • be regularly maintained and up to date
  • allow nice objective Python

But indeed python API (binding) has too many different (mostly discontinued) versions. After reading a nice historical overview by Benjamin Schweizer it has all become clear (also see his github wiki):

  • GraphicsMagick
  • PythonMagick - first implementation
  • PythonMagickWand/Achim Domma - first Wand - a CDLL implementation
  • PythonMagickWand/Ian Stevens
  • MagickFoo - included in python-magickwand
  • Wand/Hong Minhee - the latest project

Now Wand is just a (reduced) C API to the ImageMagick ".. API is the recommended interface between the C programming language and the ImageMagick image processing libraries. Unlike the MagickCore C API, MagickWand uses only a few opaque types. Accessors are available to set or get important wand properties." (See project homepage)

So it is already a simplified interface that is easer to maintain.

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