Showing posts with label OpenCV. Show all posts
Showing posts with label OpenCV. Show all posts

Friday, July 4, 2025

How do you extract glucose data from a glucose CGM report using Python?

 In my previous post, I described how to find the graph of glucose vs. time using a blue mask (the curve was in blue). This post is about graphing Glucose data vs. time using the curve from the previous post.

The main result of the previous post resulted in developing a mask’ for the curve as shown here.

This Python script (GlucoseCalibrated.py) that follows is designed to extract numerical glucose data from a graph image by analyzing the blue glucose trace, calibrating it to real-world glucose values, and then saving the results. The important determinations that are to be made are, 1) Correctly rendering the Y-axis of the displayed curve and establishing the Glucose data in mg/dL correctly to the numerical data from the calculation. In associating the correct Glucose values, the measurements on the curve from the report were made using GIMP. The X-axis association with time has to be done as well.

import cv2
import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import csv
import os

# --- Configuration ---

IMAGE_PATH = "LibreViewOneDayGraph.jpg"

LOWER_BLUE = np.array([100, 50, 50])
UPPER_BLUE = np.array([140, 255, 255])

# --- CRITICAL CALIBRATION PARAMETERS ---
GLUCOSE_VALUE_1 = 0
PIXEL_Y_1 = 170

GLUCOSE_VALUE_2 = 150
PIXEL_Y_2 = 107
# ----------------------------------------

print(f"Attempting to load image from: {IMAGE_PATH}. "
f"Current working directory: {os.getcwd()}")

# Load image
img = cv2.imread(IMAGE_PATH)

# Check if the image was loaded successfully
if img is None:
print(f"Error: Could not load image from {IMAGE_PATH}. "
"Please check the path and name.")
else:
print(f"Image '{IMAGE_PATH}' loaded successfully. "
f"Dimensions: {img.shape}")
img_height, img_width, _ = img.shape
img_hsv = cv2.cvtColor(img, cv2.COLOR_BGR2HSV)

# Create mask for the blue color
mask = cv2.inRange(img_hsv, LOWER_BLUE, UPPER_BLUE)
print(f"Mask created. Number of blue pixels detected: "
f"{np.count_nonzero(mask)}")
if np.count_nonzero(mask) == 0:
print("Warning: No blue pixels found in the image with the "
"current HSV range. Check image color or HSV values.")

# Create a copy of the image to draw on (for visualization)
img_with_circles = img.copy()
circle_radius = 2

# List to store x, y coordinates and glucose values for CSV
glucose_trace_data = []
glucose_trace_data.append(
['x_pixel', 'y_pixel_raw', 'glucose_value_mg_dL'])

# --- Calculate the linear transformation parameters (m and b) ---
m_glucose_scale = (GLUCOSE_VALUE_2 - GLUCOSE_VALUE_1) / \
(PIXEL_Y_2 - PIXEL_Y_1)
b_glucose_offset = GLUCOSE_VALUE_1 - \
(m_glucose_scale * PIXEL_Y_1)

print(f"\n--- Calibration Results ---")
print(f"Using calibration points: ({PIXEL_Y_1}px -> "
f"{GLUCOSE_VALUE_1}mg/dL) and ({PIXEL_Y_2}px -> "
f"{GLUCOSE_VALUE_2}mg/dL)")
print(f"Calculated Glucose Scale (m): {m_glucose_scale:.4f}")
print(f"Calculated Glucose Offset (b): {b_glucose_offset:.4f}")
print(f"---------------------------\n")

# Iterate through each x-position to find the glucose trace
print("Starting trace detection loop...")
for x_pos in range(img_width):
column = mask[:, x_pos]
y_hits = np.where(column > 0)[0]

if len(y_hits) > 0:
y_pixel_raw = int(np.median(y_hits))

actual_glucose_value = \
(m_glucose_scale * y_pixel_raw) + b_glucose_offset
actual_glucose_value_rounded = round(actual_glucose_value, 2)

cv2.circle(img_with_circles, (x_pos, y_pixel_raw),
circle_radius, (0, 0, 255), -1)

glucose_trace_data.append(
[x_pos, y_pixel_raw, actual_glucose_value_rounded])
print(f"Trace detection loop finished. Data points collected: "
f"{len(glucose_trace_data) - 1}")

# --- Display the visualized image ---
plt.figure(figsize=(12, 7))
plt.imshow(cv2.cvtColor(img_with_circles, cv2.COLOR_BGR2RGB))
plt.title("Detected Glucose Trace on Original Image "
"(with Calibration Notes)")
plt.axis("off")
plt.show()

# Save the image with circles
output_image_filename = "glucose_trace_detected.jpg"
cv2.imwrite(output_image_filename, img_with_circles)
print(f"Visualized trace image saved to {output_image_filename}")

# --- Save data to CSV file ---
csv_filename = "glucose_trace_data_calibrated_values.csv"
try:
with open(csv_filename, 'w', newline='') as csvfile:
csv_writer = csv.writer(csvfile)
csv_writer.writerows(glucose_trace_data)
print(f"Glucose trace data saved to {csv_filename}")
except IOError:
print(f"Error: Could not write to {csv_filename}. "
"Please check file permissions or if the file is open.")

print("\nScript finished execution.")

Here's a step-by-step summary of its functionality:

  1. Import Libraries: It imports cv2 (OpenCV) for image processing, numpy for numerical operations, matplotlib.pyplot for displaying images, csv for writing data to CSV files, and os for path-related diagnostics.
  2. Configuration:
    • IMAGE_PATH: Specifies the path to your input glucose graph image (e.g., "LibreViewOneDayGraph.jpg"). This is the image the script will analyze.
    • LOWER_BLUE, UPPER_BLUE: These define a range in the HSV color space (Hue, Saturation, Value) that precisely represents the "blue" color of your glucose trace. Any pixels falling within this range are considered part of the trace.
  3. Critical Calibration Parameters:
    • GLUCOSE_VALUE_1, PIXEL_Y_1: These are your first calibration point. GLUCOSE_VALUE_1 is a known glucose level (e.g., 0 mg/dL), and PIXEL_Y_1 is the exact Y-pixel coordinate you manually measured from the image corresponding to that glucose level.
    • GLUCOSE_VALUE_2, PIXEL_Y_2: These are your second calibration point, representing another known glucose level (e.g., 150 mg/dL) and its corresponding Y-pixel coordinate.
    • Purpose: These two points are crucial for establishing a linear relationship between pixel Y-coordinates and actual glucose values.
  4. Image Loading and Initial Checks:
    • The script attempts to load the image specified by IMAGE_PATH.
    • It checks if the image loaded successfully. If not, it prints an error and stops.
    • It converts the image from BGR (Blue, Green, Red - OpenCV's default) to HSV (Hue, Saturation, Value) color space, as HSV is generally better for color-based segmentation.
  5. Color Masking:
    • cv2.inRange(img_hsv, LOWER_BLUE, UPPER_BLUE) creates a binary mask. This mask is a black-and-white image where white pixels represent areas of the original image that fall within the defined blue color range (i.e., your glucose trace).
    • It prints the number of detected blue pixels as a diagnostic.
  6. Calibration Calculation:
    • It calculates the m (slope) and b (y-intercept) values for a linear equation: Glucose_Value = m * raw_y_pixel + b.
    • m_glucose_scale: Represents how many mg/dL each pixel unit corresponds to. It's calculated using the two calibration points. It's typically negative because a higher pixel Y-value (further down the image) means a lower glucose value on the graph.
    • b_glucose_offset: The offset, calculated using one of the calibration points and the derived slope.
    • These values form the core of converting pixel data to meaningful glucose readings.
  7. Glucose Trace Detection Loop:
    • The script iterates through every single vertical column (x_pos) of the image, from left to right.
    • For each column, it looks at the mask to find all y_hits (white pixels, indicating blue color from the trace).
    • np.median(y_hits): If blue pixels are found in a column, it takes the median Y-coordinate of those pixels. Using the median helps to make the detection robust against noise or slight variations in line thickness.
    • Calibration Application: The y_pixel_raw (median Y-coordinate) is then fed into the linear equation (m * y_pixel_raw + b) to get the actual_glucose_value_rounded.
    • Visualization: A red circle is drawn on a copy of the original image (img_with_circles) at the (x_pos, y_pixel_raw) to visually confirm where the trace was detected.
    • Data Storage: The x_pos, y_pixel_raw, and actual_glucose_value_rounded are stored in the glucose_trace_data list.
  8. Output and Saving:
    • Display Image: The img_with_circles (original graph with red dots on the detected trace) is displayed using matplotlib.
    • Save Image: This visualized image is also saved as glucose_trace_detected.jpg.
    • Save CSV: The glucose_trace_data (containing all the detected x, y, and calibrated glucose values) is saved to a CSV file named glucose_trace_data_calibrated_values.csv.

In essence, this script automates the process of "reading" your glucose graph by color detection and translating the visual curve into a precise set of numerical data points.

Here is the result of running this code:

Attempting to load image from: LibreViewOneDayGraph.jpg. Current working directory: C:\Users\hoden\PycharmProjects\GraphtoData

Image 'LibreViewOneDayGraph.jpg' loaded successfully. Dimensions: (244, 1140, 3)

Mask created. Number of blue pixels detected: 5325


--- Calibration Results ---

Using calibration points: (170px -> 0mg/dL) and (107px -> 150mg/dL)

Calculated Glucose Scale (m): -2.3810

Calculated Glucose Offset (b): 404.7619

---------------------------

Starting trace detection loop...

Trace detection loop finished. Data points collected: 1091

Visualized trace image saved to glucose_trace_detected.jpg

Glucose trace data saved to glucose_trace_data_calibrated_values.csv

Script finished execution.

Process finished with exit code 0

The CSV file is written starting at the beginning of the curve to the end and at each point a red dot is placed on the original to unambiguosly verify that the whole curve is covered. 


Thursday, December 26, 2024

Ever Explored an Image? Dive In Now!


If you have not, it is time you do it. Python lends itself to be the way to unveil the magic behind images. While python is the main tool you need libraries to help along.

There is a famous adage, if you want to control something you need to measure it first. In order to change or use image in a yet to unknown ways, you need to unravel an image. Image processing is all about how in myriad ways you can use images for aesthetic, scientific and medical fields. Python with a plethora of image and other supportive libraries such as PIL, OpenCV, NumPy, etc. is great for this purpose. First of all we need to understand Pixel, it is like understanding a point in geometry, the fundamental building block.

What is a pixel?

The unveiling of an image starts with the building block of images, the pixels - geometrical structures with very minute dimensions that have some color in them.

Pixels are actually square. Each pixel is a tiny square of color that, when combined with other pixels, forms the images you see on screens. This grid of square pixels is what allows digital displays to render images with precision and clarity. The concept of pixels being square is fundamental to how digital images are created and displayed. In a sense, pixels are abstract that depend on the device on which we see the image. The physical size of a pixel is device dependent. The physical size of a pixel has to be derived from a knowledge of the resolving power of the device, the dots per inch seen on the device. While in Micro LEDs they are about 50 microns they can be fraction of a millimeter in large LEDs.  

Images are a grid of pixels, each with a specific color. When viewed together, these pixels form the images we see.

What is NumPy and what is its role in image processing?

In the process of understanding images, NumPy plays a crucial role. This library helps to separate an image into three distinct parts: height, width, and color. Furthermore, it isolates the colors red, green, and blue, placing them into their respective channels. By dismantling the image with NumPy, we can access the five important components of an image. These components can be manipulated using various image libraries in Python.

Also, while NumPy can disassemble an image, it can also reconstruct an image and it is extremely versatile. NumPy depends for its speed on the core C programming constructs but implemented for a high level language like Python.

Finding the height and width of an image using NumPy in Python:

This program takes in an image and find its shape with three arguments, height, width and number of channels. You can also see the result of running this code in PyCharm.

This image Kiss.jpg has height and width of 7401 and 7376 with three colors.

Finding the height, width and colors:

The following code unravels the image (the python program is using PyCharm interface):



1. When this code is run the image dimensions (height and width) are returned.

2. It separates the 3 color channels into its constituents.

3. It gives three images and saves them to a files in the same project

In arriving at these results it has,

1. Reduced the size of image by resizing so that final image is not distorted, visible and without any display related artifacts. (When this code was run without resizing, it returned 3 very large images all in grey).

2. After resizing, I have extracted the three channel information. Remember, it is zero-based.

3. Each channel (red, green, and blue) is populated by values from the image in a two-step process. In the first step, an array with the same dimensions as the image is created, but all elements are initialized to zero for the chosen channel. In the second step, this array is filled with the values of the pertinent color from the image.

4. It creates separate images of the same image in separate colors, one each for red, green and blue and shows them.

5. It also writes to file, the images for each of these channels.

As you can see, we have the height, width and three separate images of the image looking at ony red, green and blue values in its pixels.






Here is the code, should you try to run for your image:

========================================

import cv2
import numpy as np

# Load the image
image = cv2.imread(r'C:\Users\hoden\PycharmProjects\exploreImage\Images\TheKiss.jpg')
# Get the dimensions of the image
height, width, channels = image.shape

# Print the dimensions
print(f'Width: {width} pixels, Height: {height} pixels')

# resizing the image to display smaller sizes on my display device
resized_image = cv2.resize(image, (200, 200))

# Extract individual color channels
blue_channel = resized_image[:, :, 0]
green_channel = resized_image[:, :, 1]
red_channel = resized_image[:, :, 2]

# Create separate images for each channel
blue_image = np.zeros_like(resized_image)
blue_image[:, :, 0] = blue_channel

green_image = np.zeros_like(resized_image)
green_image[:, :, 1] = green_channel # Assign green channel to green image

red_image = np.zeros_like(resized_image)
red_image[:, :, 2] = red_channel

# Display the extracted channels as images
cv2.imshow('Blue Channel', blue_image)
cv2.imshow('Green Channel', green_image)
cv2.imshow('Red Channel', red_image)
cv2.waitKey(0)
cv2.destroyAllWindows()

# Save the extracted channels as images (optional)
cv2.imwrite('blue_channel.jpg', blue_image)
cv2.imwrite('green_channel.jpg', green_image)
cv2.imwrite('red_channel.jpg', red_image)



 

 





Sunday, December 15, 2024

Have you considered image augmentation in image data generation - Part 1?

 Python has emerged as a programming language of choice when it comes to generating images through image augmentation techniques. Image augmentation techniques can provide a rich diversity of the training dataset and turbocharge the image recognition models. 

This post explores one of the fundamental image data augmentation techniques, random cropping. A future post discusses the random clipping.

Cropping and flipping are common image manipulation techniques that don't require explicit redefinition. They are often implemented using built-in functions or libraries like OpenCV and PIL.

Details of random cropping:

Here is the python code to randomly crop an image.

=========

def random_crop(img, crop_size):


    h, w = img.shape[:2]

    x = np.random.randint(0, w - crop_size[1])

    y = np.random.randint(0, h - crop_size[0])

    crop_img = img[y:y+crop_size[0], x:x+crop_size[1]]

    return crop_img

============================

The random cropping shown above does not directly use the OpenCV, it uses the functionality of NumPy arrays. 

Note:  Defining h, w =img.shape[:2] correctly picks the images height and width appropriate for NumPy array. The common channels of NumPy are [height, width, and  color-channel] in that order.

Also note:

NumPy arrays use zero-based indexing. This means the first element in an array has an index of 0, the second has an index of 1, and so on.

In the random_crop function:

x = np.random.randint(0, w - crop_size[1])

This line generates a random starting x-coordinate for the crop. w is the width of the image.

crop_size[1] is the width of the cropped region.

By subtracting crop_size[1] from w, we ensure that the starting x-coordinate plus the crop width doesn't exceed the image's width.

y = np.random.randint(0, h - crop_size[0])

This line generates a random starting y-coordinate for the crop.

h is the height of the image. crop_size[0] is the height of the cropped region.

Similarly, this ensures the starting y-coordinate plus the crop height doesn't exceed the image's height.

Random cropping is the same as cropping with randomness introduced to the randomness in choosing the cropping coordinates.

The following code is just regular cropping of an image:

====================

from PIL import Image

def crop_image(image_path, left, top, right, bottom):
"""
Crops an image using PIL.

Args:
image_path: Path to the image file.
left: X-coordinate of the top-left corner of the cropping region.
top: Y-coordinate of the top-left corner of the cropping region.
right: X-coordinate of the bottom-right corner of the cropping region.
bottom: Y-coordinate of the bottom-right corner of the cropping region.

Returns:
The cropped image as a PIL Image object.
"""
try:
img = Image.open(image_path)
cropped_img = img.crop((left, top, right, bottom))
return cropped_img
except Exception as e:
print(f"Error cropping image: {e}")
return None


# Example usage:
image_path = r"C:\Users\hoden\PycharmProjects\exploreImage\Images\TheKiss.jpg"
left = 100
top = 50
right = 300
bottom = 200

cropped_image = crop_image(image_path, left, top, right, bottom)

if cropped_image:
cropped_image.show()
cropped_image.save("cropped_image.jpg")

Now, Let us consider random cropping:

TBC--> TO BE CONTIUED

Friday, November 15, 2024

How do you work with color images in Python?

 Imagine a world without colors, all gray and boring. Imagine flowers, birds, animals devoid of their vibrant hues. It would indeed be a dreary world. Color is at the heart of everyday life and every field you can think of. Consider the blue of the sky, the red of a rose, and the emotions they evoke. The color of walls, matching furniture, and designer curtains all play a crucial role in our surroundings.

The importance of color spans across various activities and applications such as visual communication, aesthetics, brand identity, cognitive impact, and data visualization.

Python libraries we’ve explored (PIL and OpenCV) are robust and user-friendly tools for understanding color in images. They are invaluable in image processing and essential in computer vision.

This post considers the OpenCV library. The python codes are tested using PyCharm. There are more articles on this blog using PyCharm that you may want to look at.


For starters we take a beautiful colored image, The KISS we used earlier and convert it into a gray image. Later on the various other conversions it can make. It just takes a few lines of code. Voila, you have a gray image.

OpenCV's cvtColor() function is very versatile and it can be used to alter the color of the image.

In PyCharm, I create a new project, ColorChanges. It has no color related libraries and you need to install it. If you don't, you will have no such library error.


Installing the OpenCV Library:

You install Opencv-python from PyCharm's Terminal node.



This installs OpenCV as well as Numpy. Opencv-python 4.10.0.84 and numpy 2.1.3 are installed.

The following python code,  UsingOpenCV-_1.py. The PyCharm IDE provides excellent syntax highlighting and color .


Here is the script n text format:

import cv2
# Load the image
image_path = 'path_to_your_image.jpg'
image = cv2.imread(r'C:\Users\hoden\PycharmProjects\exploreImage\Images\TheKiss.jpg')
# Resize the image # You can change the width and height values to #fit your display
width = 738
height = 741
image_resized = cv2.resize(image, (width, height))
# Convert the image from BGR to grayscale
image_gray = cv2.cvtColor(image_resized, cv2.COLOR_BGR2GRAY)
# Save and display the grayscale image
cv2.imwrite('grayscale_image.jpg', image_gray)
cv2.imshow('Grayscale Image', image_gray)
cv2.waitKey(0)
cv2.destroyAllWindows()

Notice that I use an image from another project by giving its absolute path. Also, the original image is pretty big (7380x7410) and if I do not resize, the resulting image after processing will be very large. You can see that cv2.resize() function ressies the image for the new width and height.

Converting color is a breeze with a single line using the function cvtColor().

The last two lines of code are for creating image display window on a keypress event and destroy after the user decides to close all openCV windows.

Here is the result of color conversion:

This is the original image 7380 pixels x 7410 pixels


This is the image after running the python code:










Saturday, November 2, 2024

How do you visualize the histogram of an image?

A picture is worth a thousand words is always true. A one dimensional array does not make a great deal of impact but a visual will do. 

In the previous post on histograms we saw that PIL and OpenCV can be used to provide a 1-dimensional array representing the frequency of each pixel value in the image. We can use the library matplotlib to visualize this array using the following code.

---------------------------

import cv2

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

image=cv2.imread(r'C:\Users\hoden\PycharmProjects\exploreImage\Images_3\white.png')

histogram = cv2.calcHist([image], [0], None, [256], [0, 256])


# Plot the histogram

plt.plot(histogram)

plt.title('Histogram of an all-white image')

plt.xlabel('Pixel Intensity')

plt.ylabel('Frequency')

plt.show()

------------------------

When we run this code in PyCharm, the a graphic of the Histogram will be displayed. Here is the result of running the above code twice in PyCharm. Matplotlib is pretty flexible and allows us to illustrate the plots with labels.







Friday, November 1, 2024

What is the histogram of an image?

 Histogram is an important quantity in image processing. This post looks at white and black images and their histograms.

Histogram is the distribution of intensities or pixel values. In other words, for a grayscale image, the histogram of the image is the distribution of intensities from 0(black) to 255(white). Each bin in the histogram represents a range of pixel values and the height of the bin indicates the number of pixels that fall within that range. Hence, a uniform gray colored image has just one value for the histogram and one with a gradient has a triangular distribution, and so on.

Python can be used to calculate the histogram of an image. Python uses the libraries related to images like PIL and OpenCV. 

Calculating the histogram [calcHist()] using OpenCV:

At first, let us calculate the histogram of a grayscale image. I have a image all white and let us find its histogram.

using the PyCharm IDE,

histogram = cv2.calcHist([image], [0], None, [256], [0, 256])

[image]: This is a list (or a single image) containing the image to be analyzed. In this case, we are passing a single grayscale image.

[0]: This specifies that we want to calculate the histogram for the first channel of the image. For grayscale images, there is only one channel.

None: This parameter is used for specifying a mask. In this case, we are not using a mask, so we pass None.

[256]: This specifies the number of bins in the histogram. A value of 256 is commonly used for grayscale images, as it corresponds to the possible range of pixel values (0-255).

[0, 256]: This specifies the range of pixel values for which the histogram is calculated. In this case, we are calculating the histogram for all pixel values in the image.

 Note that histogram does not refer to the spatial distribution of the pixel values.

This is the python code for a image all white.

----------------------------------------------

import cv2

image = cv2.imread(r'C:\Users\hoden\PycharmProjects\exploreImage\Images_3\white.png')

histogram = cv2.calcHist([image], [0], None, [256], [0, 256])

print(histogram)

----------------------------------------

 The result is a single array all zeros except the last one. 

[[     0.]

 [     0.]

 [     0.]

 [     0.]

 [     0.]

 [     0.]

 [     0.]

 [     0.]

 [     0.]

 [     0.]

 [     0.]

 [     0.]

 [     0.]

 [     0.]

 [     0.]

 [     0.]

 [     0.]

.

.

.

.

[636804.]]

  • The intensity value for white pixels is 255.

  • Every pixel in the image has this intensity.

Given these facts, the histogram will show:

  • A peak at the intensity level 255.

  • All other intensity levels (0-254) will have a frequency of 0.

For a perfectly all-black image, the histogram will be,

[[636804.]
 [     0.]
 [     0.]
 [     0.]
 [     0.]
 [     0.]
 [     0.]
 [     0.]
 [     0.]
 [     0.]
 [     0.]
 [     0.]
 [     0.]
 [     0.]
 [     0.]
 [     0.]
.
.
.
.
.[     0.]
 [     0.]
 [     0.]]

The 636804 being the result of using a 798x798 sized picture

In essence, 

 X-axis: Represents the intensity or brightness level of pixels. In grayscale images, this ranges from 0 (black) to 255 (white).

Y-axis: Represents the number of pixels in the image that have the intensity level corresponding to the x-axis value.

These can be plotted using other image libraries such as matplotlib.

PIL can also be used for calculating the Histogram of an image. Here is the python code.
------------------------------
from PIL import Image

def calculate_histogram(image):
    """Calculates the histogram of an image.

    Args:
        image: A PIL Image object.

    Returns:
        A list containing the pixel counts for each intensity level.
    """

    histogram = image.histogram()
    return histogram

# Load the image
image = Image.open("your_image.jpg")

# Calculate the histogram
histogram = calculate_histogram(image)

# Print the histogram
print(histogram)
-----------------------------------
PIL is a simpler implementation than that of OpenCV. Both the data structure and the visualization are different.  We will look at visualization in future posts.
Histogram are very useful in image recognition related aspects:
  • Image segmentation: Identifying regions of interest within an image based on their pixel intensity distribution.
  • Image enhancement: Adjusting the contrast or brightness of an image based on the histogram.
  • Image comparison: Comparing the histograms of different images to determine their similarity or dissimilarity.

Monday, October 28, 2024

How do you install matplotlib for python?

 

We have seen earlier how to install PIL and OpenCV to visualize images. Matplotlib is yet another library for creating complex plots and graphs.

 Each of these graphic libraries have their own application area:

PIL(Pillow): Great for simple manipulations like cropping, resizing and adding filters. Easy to use but not for extensive visualizations.

OpenCV: Great for real-time computer vision tasks and image processing and lend itself to feature detection, object recognition and video analysis.

Matplotlib: Great for complex plots, graphs,  and charts. Highly customizable.


Installing Matplotlib

Herein, I consider installing matplotlib in the PyCharm IDE that was used for PIL and OpenCV. You can use either the python interpreter to install the library package or the virtual terminal.

In the PyCharm IDE locate the Packages icon highlighted in blue. You can see other packages from earlier installs like pip, pillow, etc. 


In the search box type 'matplotlib' and click Install on the right


There was an error that indicated it is being used. However, it is not installed on this machine in any other program. If this works for you you are in luck.


The virtual terminal is another way to install packages. Locate the Terminal icon in PyCharm. The command line is displayed on the right. 


Type in the following : pip install matplotlib

This should install matplotlib. The program came back saying that it is already present in the site packages. 

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(.venv) C:\Users\hoden\OneDrive\Desktop\PyCharm\PIL>pip install matplotlib

Requirement already satisfied: matplotlib in c:\users\hoden\pycharmprojects\exploreimage\.venv\lib\site-packages (3.9.2)Requirement already satisfied: contourpy>=1.0.1 in c:\users\hoden\pycharmprojects\exploreimage\.venv\lib\site-packages (from matplotlib) (1.3.0)Requirement already satisfied: cycler>=0.10 in c:\users\hoden\pycharmprojects\exploreimage\.venv\lib\site-packages (from matplotlib) (0.12.1)Requirement already satisfied: fonttools>=4.22.0 in c:\users\hoden\pycharmprojects\exploreimage\.venv\lib\site-packages (from matplotlib) (4.54.1)Requirement already satisfied: kiwisolver>=1.3.1 in c:\users\hoden\pycharmprojects\exploreimage\.venv\lib\site-packages (from matplotlib) (1.4.7)Requirement already satisfied: numpy>=1.23 in c:\users\hoden\pycharmprojects\exploreimage\.venv\lib\site-packages (from matplotlib) (2.1.1)Requirement already satisfied: packaging>=20.0 in c:\users\hoden\pycharmprojects\exploreimage\.venv\lib\site-packages (from matplotlib) (24.1)Requirement already satisfied: pillow>=8 in c:\users\hoden\pycharmprojects\exploreimage\.venv\lib\site-packages (from matplotlib) (10.4.0)Requirement already satisfied: pyparsing>=2.3.1 in c:\users\hoden\pycharmprojects\exploreimage\.venv\lib\site-packages (from matplotlib) (3.2.0)Requirement already satisfied: python-dateutil>=2.7 in c:\users\hoden\pycharmprojects\exploreimage\.venv\lib\site-packages (from matplotlib) (2.9.0.post0)  Requirement already satisfied: six>=1.5 in c:\users\hoden\pycharmprojects\exploreimage\.venv\lib\site-packages (from python-dateutil>=2.7->matplotlib) (1.16.0)[notice] A new release of pip is available: 23.2.1 -> 24.3.1[notice] To update, run: C:\Users\hoden\PycharmProjects\exploreImage\.venv\Scripts\python.exe -m pip install --upgrade pi

And, indeed it was. The reason for this is perhaps the project files are not in the virtual environment. 

Anyway, before you use matplotlib in your python project, you need to import the plotting routine using 

Import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

Usage of matplotlib 

Python code for displaying an image. 

We will use the same RGB.png image as in the earlier posts.

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import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import matplotlib.image as mpimg

# Load the image
image = mpimg.imread(r'C:\Users\hoden\PycharmProjects\exploreImage\Images_2\RGB.png')
# Display the image
plt.imshow(image)
plt.axis('off')
# Hide axes for a cleaner look
plt.title('Displayed Image')
plt.show()

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The following image gets displayed:


What display device matplotlib uses to display an image?

Matplotlib uses a backend to display images and plots. The backend is responsible for rendering the visualizations to the screen or saving them to a file. By default, Matplotlib selects the appropriate backend based on your environment. Some common backends are:

  • TkAgg: Uses the Tkinter library for rendering.

  • Qt5Agg: Uses the Qt5 library for rendering.

  • MacOSX: Used for rendering on macOS.

  • GTK3Agg: Uses the GTK3 library for rendering.

  • Agg: Used for rendering to files without displaying on screen.

How to check the display device used for rendering:

The following code is used to check the display device:

Import matplotlib
print(matplotlib.get_backend())

On my Windows 11 laptop, it appears to use the TkAgg library for rendering as I get a reply 'tkagg' for the above code.