Imagequant Python are bindings to allow using libimagequant from Python.
Libimagequant is a small, portable C library for high-quality conversion of RGBA images to 8-bit indexed-color (palette) images.
From PyPI:
pip3 install imagequant
NOTE: you may require compilation tools to build the library if you system is not suitable for the precompiled wheels. On Debian / Ubuntu you can install the build dependencies with the following command:
sudo apt install build-essential python3-dev
from PIL import Image
import imagequant
input_image = Image.open("./example.png")
output_image = imagequant.quantize_pil_image(
    input_image,
    dithering_level=1.0,  # from 0.0 to 1.0
    max_colors=256,       # from 1 to 256
    min_quality=0,        # from 0 to 100
    max_quality=100,      # from 0 to 100
)
output_image.save("./out.png", format="PNG")import imagequant
# 2×2px image
IMAGE_DATA = (
    # | R | G | B | A |
    b"\xFF\x00\x00\xFF"  # red
    b"\x00\xFF\x00\xFF"  # lime
    b"\x00\x00\xFF\xFF"  # blue
    b"\xFF\xFF\xFF\xFF"  # white
)
output_image_data, output_palette = imagequant.quantize_raw_rgba_bytes(
    IMAGE_DATA,           # RGBA image data
    2, 2,                 # width, height
    dithering_level=1.0,  # from 0.0 to 1.0
    max_colors=256,       # from 1 to 256
    min_quality=0,        # from 0 to 100
    max_quality=100,      # from 0 to 100
)
# you can now encode image data and the palette in any image format...Example output_image_data:
b'\x02\x03\x00\x01'Example output_palette:
[0, 0, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 0, 0, 255, 0, 255, 0, 255, 0, 0, 0, 0, ...]
# color 0      | color 1           | color 2       | color 3       | color 4   | ...Clone the repository and get the submodules:
git clone https://github.com/wanadev/imagequant-python.git cd imagequant-python git submodule init git submodule update
Install some dependencies (preferably in a virtualenv):
pip3 install nox cffi pillow
Build the binary part of the lib:
python imagequant/libimagequant_build.py
A .so file (or a .pyd file on Windows, or a .dylib file on MacOS) shoud now be present in the imagequant/ folder. You will not need to run this command again until you change something in imagequant/libimagequant.h or in libimagequant/*.{c,h}.
To check the coding style, you can run the lint with the following command:
nox -s lint
To run the tests, use the following command:
nox -s test
Imagequant Python is licensed under the BSD 3 Clause. See the LICENSE file for more information.
Libimagequant is dual-licensed:
- For Free/Libre Open Source Software it's available under GPL v3 or later with additional copyright notices for older parts of the code.
- For use in closed-source software, AppStore distribution, and other non-GPL uses, you can obtain a commercial license.
Read its license terms for more information.
- [NEXT] (changes on masterthat have not been released yet):- Nothing yet ;)
 
- v1.1.5:- misc: Added support for Python 3.14 (@flozz)
- misc: Dropped support of x86 (32bits) architecture for Python >= 3.14 (@flozz)
- misc!: Removed support for Python 3.9 (@flozz)
 
- v1.1.4:- fix: Cleanup before throwing RuntimeError to avoid memory leak (@laggykiller, #26)
 
- v1.1.3:- misc(deps): Fixed PyPy builds on Windows platform (@flozz)
 
- v1.1.2:- misc: Removed PyPy wheels for Windows AMD64 as they won't build (@flozz)
- misc: Fixed libimagequant build on newer GCC versions (@flozz)
- misc: Added Python 3.13 support (@flozz)
- misc!: Removed Python 3.8 support (@flozz)
 
- v1.1.1:- dist: Build and publish arm64 wheels for Linux and Windows (@laggykiller, #9, #10)
 
- v1.1.0:- Added options to set minimal and target (maximal) quality (@injet-zhou, #4)
 
- v1.0.5:- Added Python 3.12 support (@flozz)
- Removed Python 3.7 support (@flozz)
 
- v1.0.4:- Added Python 3.11 support
 
- v1.0.3:- arm64and- universal2wheels for macOS M1
- x86and- x68_64wheels for musl-based Linux distro (Alpine,...)
- x86wheels for Windows (- x86_64were already available)
 
- v1.0.2: Python 3.10 support and wheels
- v1.0.1: Fix encoding while reading the README in setup.py
- v1.0.0: Initial release with a minimal API.

