Write TIFF file in python from String

Question

I need a way to easily write a compressed TIFF file from a String in python. I already look at the Python Imaging Library PIL But I need to write a very specific TIFF format and PIL only supports uncompressed at the moment. I need to write a LZW compressed, striped TIFF with just one simple line of text in it. I would rather not have to write something from scratch, but if I do I do.

I ended up just using the .NET code I had that did this and exported it to a command line exe, then called that instead of tiffCP, basically the same thing but I already had all the settings set in my .NET tool, so I didn't have to worry about any of that from python, just pass it a string. — keepitreall89, Mar 18 '11 at 20:13

Robert Pollak · Answer 1 · 2015-02-23T12:19:17.230

5

I have just used WinPython to write a TIFF file with LZW compression:

from PIL import Image, TiffImagePlugin

[...]

TiffImagePlugin.WRITE_LIBTIFF = True
im.save(filename, compression = "tiff_lzw")
TiffImagePlugin.WRITE_LIBTIFF = False

(See this WinPython ticket).

(Edit 2014-05-13: Fixed my READ_LIBTIFF/WRITE_LIBTIFF confusion).

(Edit 2015-02-23: Updated the WinPython link).

edited Feb 23 '15 at 12:19

answered May 12 '14 at 14:45

Robert Pollak

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Nowadays compression="tiff_lzw" works without needing the TiffImagePlugin manipulations. – markemus Mar 28 '23 at 05:01

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 10 '11 at 16:46

I've used this code in the past, so I can say that it works. This script is from 1997, and PIL has yet to implement compressed TIFF writing.

# 
# use "tiffcp" to write compressed TIFF files.
#
# fredrik lundh (may 13, 1997)
#

import os, tempfile

# install standard driver
import Image, TiffImagePlugin 

LZW      = "lzw"
ZIP      = "zip"
JPEG     = "jpeg"
PACKBITS = "packbits"
G3       = "g3"
G4       = "g4"

def _save(im, fp, filename):

    # check compression mode
    try:
    compression = im.encoderinfo["compression"]
    except KeyError:
    # use standard driver
    TiffImagePlugin._save(im, fp, filename)
    else:
    # compress via temporary file
    if compression not in (LZW, ZIP, JPEG, PACKBITS, G3, G4):
        raise IOError, "unknown compression mode"
    file = tempfile.mktemp()
    im.save(file, "TIFF")
    os.system("tiffcp -c %s %s %s" % (compression, file, filename))
    try: os.unlink(file)
    except: pass

Image.register_save(TiffImagePlugin.TiffImageFile.format, _save)

if __name__ == "__main__":
    # test
    im = Image.open("/usr/iv/tip/images/lenna.ppm")
    im = im.point(lambda v: v >= 128 and 255, "1")
    im.save("lenna.tif", compression=G4)

This code (afaict) just adds the ability to write compressed TIFFs using the standard PIL library, so if you've written your text to a PIL Image object, it should be really easy to implement.

Nice trick, though note that this does require a command-line tool that may not be installed, particularly on Windows. You can get a Windows version of tiffcp here: http://www.verypdf.com/tif2pdf/image2pdf_emf2pdf_cmd.zip — kindall, Mar 10 '11 at 17:09
When you use Linux, you just forget about all these things. Thanks for pointing that out. — Blender, Mar 10 '11 at 17:10

Write TIFF file in python from String

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