Python Convert Image (JPG, PNG) to CSV

Given an image as a .png or .jpeg file. How to convert it to a CSV file in Python?

Example image:

Convert the image to a CSV using the following steps:

1. Read the image into a PIL.Image object.
2. Convert the PIL.Image object to a 3D NumPy array with the dimensions rows, columns, and RGB values.
3. Convert the 3D NumPy array to a 2D list of lists by collapsing the RGB values into a single value (e.g., a string representation).
4. Write the 2D list of lists to a CSV using normal file I/O in Python.

Here’s the code that applies these four steps, assuming the image is stored in a file named 'c++.jpg':

from PIL import Image
import numpy as np # 1. Read image
img = Image.open('c++.jpg') # 2. Convert image to NumPy array
arr = np.asarray(img)
print(arr.shape)
# (771, 771, 3) # 3. Convert 3D array to 2D list of lists
lst = []
for row in arr: tmp = [] for col in row: tmp.append(str(col)) lst.append(tmp) # 4. Save list of lists to CSV
with open('my_file.csv', 'w') as f: for row in lst: f.write(','.join(row) + '\n')

Note that the resulting CSV file looks like this with super long rows.

Each CSV cell (column) value is a representation of the RGB value at that specific pixel. For example, [255 255 255] represents the color white at that pixel.

---

For more information and some background on file I/O, check out our detailed tutorial on converting a list of lists to a CSV:

Related Tutorial: How to Convert a List to a CSV File in Python [5 Ways]