_tkinter.TclError: image ... doesn't exist

Question

Can't find any not outdated answers, I'm creating a canvas and running a filepath through PhotoImage so I can create_image in the canvas, but I'm getting an error that says the image {path} does not exist, despite the image obviously existing because I used the exact same path to get it with requests, and I can open the file and there's nothing wrong with the path or the image. in init:

self.cover_canvas = Canvas(width=100, height=200)

later in the class:

def load_image(self):
    self.cover_image = PhotoImage(self.image_loc)
    self.cover_canvas.create_image(50, 100, image=self.cover_image)
    self.cover_canvas.grid(row=4, column=1)

Edit: The PIL solution ended up working, thought it might be outdated because when I tried to pip install PIL it failed to find a current version, but I just tried PIP installing is with the name "Pillow" and at first I thought it still didn't work because when I tried to import from Pillow nothing worked, but when I tried importing from PIL after pip installing Pillow it worked. Kinda weird but wtv.

Also if `self.image_loc` is the path of an image, then `PhotoImage(file=self.image_loc)` should be used instead. — acw1668, Aug 25 '22 at 08:21
If python is telling you a file doesn't exist, you can be sure it's telling the truth. — Bryan Oakley, Aug 25 '22 at 14:16
@acw1668 I did that now it says it can't recognize data in image file — Renni Stewart, Aug 25 '22 at 19:01
Then it is an image format that tkinter `PhotoImage()` does not support, like JPEG. — acw1668, Aug 25 '22 at 22:42
@acw1668 forgot to say, you were right, I added used requests to download the image and just added a .png file extension, but when I used imghdr to check the file type it was jpeg, works with ImageTk just fine though — Renni Stewart, Aug 27 '22 at 00:35

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Aug 25 '22 at 11:05

although I usually prefer to use a Label to show images, below I show you a possible solution using a Canvas. The program loads. png files and resizes them, I hope this can help you.

    #!/usr/bin/python3
import os
import tkinter as tk
from tkinter import ttk
from tkinter import messagebox
from tkinter import filedialog as fd
from PIL import Image, ImageTk

class App(tk.Tk):
    """Start here"""

    def __init__(self):
        super().__init__()

        self.title("Hello World!")
        self.protocol("WM_DELETE_WINDOW", self.on_exit)
        self.init_ui()

    def init_ui(self):

        f0 = tk.Frame(self, relief=tk.GROOVE, padx=8, pady=8)
        f1 = tk.Frame(f0, relief=tk.GROOVE, padx=8, pady=8)

        self.canvas = tk.Canvas(f1, relief=tk.GROOVE, borderwidth=1)
        self.canvas.pack(fill=tk.BOTH, expand=1)
        
        w = tk.Frame(f0, relief=tk.GROOVE, borderwidth=1, padx=8, pady=8)
        ttk.Button(w, text="Load", command=self.on_get_image).pack()
        ttk.Button(w, text="Close", command=self.on_exit).pack()
                
        f0.pack(fill=tk.BOTH, expand=1)
        f1.pack(side=tk.LEFT, fill=tk.BOTH, expand=1)
        w.pack(side=tk.RIGHT, fill=tk.BOTH, expand=0)

    def on_get_image(self, evt=None):

        selected_file = fd.askopenfilename(filetypes=(("Choice files", "*.png"),), parent=self)

        if selected_file:
            i = self.on_set_image(selected_file)
            #image is positioned relative to point (x, y).
            self.canvas.create_image(1, 1, image=i, anchor=tk.NW)
            self.canvas.image = i
        
    def on_set_image(self, filename):

        image = Image.open(filename)
        # if you resize...
        image= image.resize((800,600), Image.ANTIALIAS)
        return ImageTk.PhotoImage(image)
       
    def on_exit(self):
        """Close all"""
        if messagebox.askokcancel(self.title(), "Do you want to quit?", parent=self):
            self.destroy()               
    
if __name__ == '__main__':
    app = App()
    app.mainloop()

Can I see how you load an image with a label? – Renni Stewart Aug 25 '22 at 18:45 — Renni Stewart, Aug 25 '22 at 18:45
Sure see below , It use the same PIL libraries – 1966bc Aug 26 '22 at 07:06 — 1966bc, Aug 26 '22 at 07:06

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Aug 26 '22 at 07:04

This is the same script using a Label instead of a Canvas as you request...

#!/usr/bin/python3
import os
import tkinter as tk
from tkinter import ttk
from tkinter import messagebox
from tkinter import filedialog as fd
from PIL import Image, ImageTk

class App(tk.Tk):
    """Start here"""

    def __init__(self):
        super().__init__()

        self.title("Hello World!")
        self.protocol("WM_DELETE_WINDOW", self.on_exit)
        self.geometry("400x400")
        self.init_ui()

    def init_ui(self):

        f0 = tk.Frame(self, relief=tk.GROOVE, padx=8, pady=8)
        f1 = tk.Frame(f0, relief=tk.GROOVE)
        
        self.Pic = tk.Label(f1, relief=tk.GROOVE, bd=1, image=None)
        self.Pic.pack(fill=tk.BOTH, expand=1)
        
        w = tk.Frame(f0, relief=tk.GROOVE, padx=8, pady=8)
        ttk.Button(w, text="Laod", command=self.on_load_a_pic).pack()
        ttk.Button(w, text="Close", command=self.on_exit).pack()
                
        f0.pack(fill=tk.BOTH, expand=1)
        f1.pack(side=tk.LEFT, fill=tk.BOTH, expand=1)
        w.pack(side=tk.RIGHT, fill=tk.BOTH, expand=0)

    def on_load_a_pic(self, evt=None):

        selected_file = fd.askopenfilename(filetypes=(("Choice files", "*.png"),), parent=self)

        if selected_file:
            i = self.get_a_pic(selected_file)
            self.Pic.configure(image=i)
            self.Pic.image = i
        
    def get_a_pic(self, filename):

        image = Image.open(filename)
        #want resize?
        image = image.resize((400, 400), Image.ANTIALIAS)
        return ImageTk.PhotoImage(image)
       
    def on_exit(self):
        """Close all"""
        if messagebox.askokcancel(self.title(), "Do you want to quit?", parent=self):
            self.destroy()               
    
if __name__ == '__main__':
    app = App()
    app.mainloop()

Instead of adding multiple answers, why don't you edit the existing answer to include this too — Delrius Euphoria, Aug 26 '22 at 16:17
thanks, although I already figured it out and really should have done some self research before asking you lol @1966bc — Renni Stewart, Aug 27 '22 at 00:33

_tkinter.TclError: image ... doesn't exist

2 Answers2