How to Install `ImageIO` in Python

v2.37.3 General Purpose Python >=3.10

Read and write images and video across all major formats. Supports scientific and volumetric data.

Install pip install ImageIO

What is ImageIO?

Read and write images and video across all major formats. Supports scientific and volumetric data.

Imageio is a mature Python library that makes it easy to read and write image and video data. This includes animated images, video, volumetric data, and scientific formats. It is cross-platform, runs on Python 3.10+, and is easy to install.

Professional support is available via Tidelift.

Here's a minimal example of how to use imageio. See the docs for more examples.

PyPI page → Author: ImageIO contributors

Quick Start

Minimal example to get started with ImageIO:

import imageio

print(imageio.__version__)

Installation

pip (standard)

pip install ImageIO

Virtual environment (recommended)

python -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate   # Windows: venv\Scripts\activate
pip install ImageIO

pip3

pip3 install ImageIO

conda

conda install -c conda-forge ImageIO

Poetry

poetry add ImageIO

Dependencies

Installing ImageIO will also install these packages:

numpy pillow

Verify the Installation

After installing, confirm the package is available:

python -c "import imageio; print(imageio.__version__)"

If this prints a version number, installation succeeded. If you see a ModuleNotFoundError, see the errors section below.

Installation Errors

Common errors when installing ImageIO with pip.

ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'imageio'

Cause: The package is not installed in the current Python environment.

Fix: Run pip install ImageIO. If using a virtual environment, ensure it is activated first.

ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'imageio' (installed but still failing)

Cause: pip installed the package into a different Python than the one running your script.

Fix: Use python -m pip install ImageIO to install into the interpreter you are running.

ImportError: cannot import name 'X' from 'imageio'

Cause: The function or class does not exist in the installed version.

Fix: Check the version with pip show ImageIO and upgrade with pip install --upgrade ImageIO.

pip: command not found

Cause: pip is not in PATH or Python was not added to PATH during installation.

Fix: Try python -m pip install ImageIO. On macOS/Linux try pip3.

PermissionError: [Errno 13] Permission denied

Cause: No write access to the system Python package directory.

Fix: Use a virtual environment, or add --user: pip install --user ImageIO

SSL: CERTIFICATE_VERIFY_FAILED

Cause: pip cannot verify PyPI's SSL certificate — common behind corporate proxies.

Fix: Try: pip install --trusted-host pypi.org --trusted-host files.pythonhosted.org ImageIO

Recent Releases

Version	Released
`2.37.3` latest	2026-03-09
`2.37.2`	2025-11-04
`2.37.0`	2025-01-20
`2.36.1`	2024-11-28
`2.36.0`	2024-10-14

Full release history on PyPI →

Manage ImageIO

Upgrade to latest version

pip install --upgrade ImageIO

Install a specific version

pip install ImageIO==2.37.3

Uninstall

pip uninstall ImageIO

Check what is installed

pip show ImageIO

Last updated: 2026-04-11 • Data from PyPI

How to Install ImageIO in Python