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Kenil Vasani
Kenil Vasani

Kenil Vasani

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Asked: 2020-12-14T21:04:45+00:00 In: ,

Tkinter error: Couldn’t recognize data in image file

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I’m trying to put a jpg image to a tkinter canvas. tkinter gives me this error:

couldn’t recognize data in image file

I use the code from the documentation:

canv = Canvas(root, width=80, height=80, bg='white')
canv.grid(row=2, column=3)

img = PhotoImage(file="bll.jpg")
canv.create_image(20,20, anchor=NW, image=img)

Same thing with png images. Even tried to put an image into a label widget, but got the same error. What’s wrong?

I am using Python 3 on Mac. Python file and image are in the same folder.

canvasmacospythonpython-3.xtkinter
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    1 Answer

    1. Kenil Vasani

      Kenil Vasani

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      Best Answer

      Your code seems right, this is running for me on Windows 7 (Python 3.6):

      from tkinter import *
root = Tk()

canv = Canvas(root, width=80, height=80, bg='white')
canv.grid(row=2, column=3)

img = PhotoImage(file="bll.jpg")
canv.create_image(20,20, anchor=NW, image=img)

mainloop()

      resulting in this tkinter GUI:

      GUI with this image as bll.jpg: image

      (imgur converted it to bll.png but this is working for me as well.)

      More options:

      • This answer mentions, tkinter is working only with gif images. Try using a .gif image.
      • If this is not working, use PIL as stated in this answer.

      Update: Solution with PIL:

      from tkinter import *
from PIL import ImageTk, Image
root = Tk()

canv = Canvas(root, width=80, height=80, bg='white')
canv.grid(row=2, column=3)

img = ImageTk.PhotoImage(Image.open("bll.jpg"))  # PIL solution
canv.create_image(20, 20, anchor=NW, image=img)

mainloop()
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