How to Display Image in Python: Simple Methods Explained

To display an image in Python, you can use the PIL library's Image.show() method or use matplotlib.pyplot.imshow() to show images inline. Both methods load the image file and open a window or plot to display it.

Syntax

Here are two common ways to display images in Python:

• PIL (Pillow) method: Load an image with Image.open('path') and display it with Image.show().
• Matplotlib method: Use matplotlib.pyplot.imread('path') to read the image and imshow() to display it.

python

from PIL import Image

# Load image
img = Image.open('image.jpg')

# Display image
img.show()

Example

This example shows how to display an image using both PIL and matplotlib. It loads an image file named image.jpg and displays it in a window or plot.

python

from PIL import Image
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

# Using PIL
img = Image.open('image.jpg')
img.show()

# Using matplotlib
img_data = plt.imread('image.jpg')
plt.imshow(img_data)
plt.axis('off')  # Hide axes
plt.show()

Output

Two windows open: one showing the image via PIL, another showing the image via matplotlib plot.

Common Pitfalls

Common mistakes when displaying images in Python include:

• Using a wrong file path or filename causes FileNotFoundError.
• For Image.show(), the image opens in an external viewer which may not work in some environments like servers.
• Matplotlib requires calling plt.show() to actually display the image plot.
• Not hiding axes in matplotlib can clutter the image display.

python

from PIL import Image

# Wrong way: missing file or typo
# img = Image.open('wrongname.jpg')  # This raises FileNotFoundError

# Right way:
img = Image.open('image.jpg')
img.show()

Quick Reference

Method	Usage	Notes
PIL (Pillow)	Image.open('file').show()	Simple, opens external viewer
Matplotlib	plt.imshow(plt.imread('file')); plt.show()	Good for inline display in notebooks
File path	Use correct path to image file	Common source of errors

Key Takeaways

Use PIL's Image.show() for quick external image display.

Use matplotlib's imshow() with plt.show() for inline image display in plots.

Always check the image file path to avoid errors.

Hide axes in matplotlib with plt.axis('off') for cleaner image display.