Create a Custom Panda Emoji with Python: Step‑by‑Step OpenCV & Pillow Tutorial

Project Overview

In everyday life we often collect funny photos of friends; this project uses a cute panda head as a background and places friends' photos on it to create a meme, as shown in the example images.

Implementation Steps

Import the foreground photo (friend's picture).

Resize, rotate, and pad the foreground as needed.

Import the panda‑head background image.

Combine foreground and background to form the emoji.

Add text below the emoji.

Python Implementation

1. Import Required Libraries

import cv2
import numpy as mp
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
from PIL import Image, ImageDraw, ImageFont

The project mainly uses OpenCV; Pillow is required for adding Chinese text.

2. Helper Plot Function

def plt_show(img):
    imageRGB = cv2.cvtColor(img, cv2.COLOR_BGR2RGB)
    plt.imshow(imageRGB)
    plt.show()

3. Load Foreground Photo

image = cv2.imread('SXC.jpg', 0)  # load as grayscale
plt_show(image)

4. Proportionally Resize Foreground

The foreground is larger than the background, so we scale it down by 0.3.

image_resize = cv2.resize(image, None, fx=0.3, fy=0.3, interpolation=cv2.INTER_CUBIC)
plt_show(image_resize)

5. Binarize Foreground

Pixels > 80 become 255; others become 0.

ret, image_binary = cv2.threshold(image_resize, 80, 255, cv2.THRESH_BINARY)
plt_show(image_binary)

6. Extract Region of Interest (ROI)

image_roi = image_binary[74:185, 0:150]
plt_show(image_roi)

7. Rotate the ROI

The background is upright while the foreground is slightly tilted; we rotate it ~15° counter‑clockwise.

rows, cols = image_roi.shape
M = cv2.getRotationMatrix2D(((cols-1)/2.0, (rows-1)/2.0), 15, 1)
image_rotate = cv2.warpAffine(image_roi, M, (140, 130))
plt_show(image_rotate)

8. Remove Unwanted Black Areas

We fill unnecessary regions with white using cv2.fillPoly.

h, w = image_rotate.shape
image_rotate_copy = image_rotate.copy()
pts1 = np.array([[0, 20], [64, 0], [0, 0]], np.int32)
pts2 = np.array([[0, 18], [0, h], [80, h]], np.int32)
pts3 = np.array([[0, 100], [0, h], [w, h], [w, 100]], np.int32)
pts4 = np.array([[111, 0], [w, 0], [w, 30]], np.int32)
pts5 = np.array([[124, 0], [115, h], [w, h]], np.int32)
pts6 = np.array([[120, 40], [95, 100], [120, 100]], np.int32)
foreground = cv2.fillPoly(image_rotate_copy, [pts1], (255, 255, 255))
foreground = cv2.fillPoly(image_rotate_copy, [pts2], (255, 255, 255))
foreground = cv2.fillPoly(image_rotate_copy, [pts3], (255, 255, 255))
foreground = cv2.fillPoly(image_rotate_copy, [pts4], (255, 255, 255))
foreground = cv2.fillPoly(image_rotate_copy, [pts5], (255, 255, 255))
foreground = cv2.fillPoly(image_rotate_copy, [pts6], (255, 255, 255))
plt_show(foreground)

9. Extract ROI Again and Upscale

foreground_roi = foreground[0:93, 0:125]
plt_show(foreground_roi)
foreground_roi_resize = cv2.resize(foreground_roi, None, fx=2.5, fy=2.5, interpolation=cv2.INTER_CUBIC)
plt_show(foreground_roi_resize)

10. Load Background Image

background = cv2.imread('back.jpg', 0)
plt_show(background)

11. Combine Foreground and Background

h_f, w_f = foreground.shape
h_b, w_b = background.shape
left = (w_b - w_f) // 2
right = left + w_f
top = 100
bottom = top + h_f
emoji = background
emoji[top:bottom, left:right] = foreground
plt_show(emoji)

12. Add Text Below the Emoji

12.1 English Text

OpenCV can directly draw English text.

emoji_copy = emoji.copy()
cv2.putText(emoji_copy, "FXXK!!", (210, 500), cv2.FONT_HERSHEY_SIMPLEX, 1.2, (0, 0, 0), 5)
plt_show(emoji_copy)

12.2 Chinese Text

For Chinese characters we use Pillow.

PilImg = Image.fromarray(emoji)  # cv2 → PIL
draw = ImageDraw.Draw(PilImg)
ttfront = ImageFont.truetype('simhei.ttf', 34)
draw.text((210, 450), "你瞅啥！！", fill=0, font=ttfront)
emoji_text = cv2.cvtColor(np.array(PilImg), cv2.COLOR_RGB2BGR)  # PIL → cv2
plt_show(emoji_text)

13. Save the Emoji

cv2.imwrite('./emoji.png', np.array(emoji_text))

Full Source Code

import cv2
import numpy as mp
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
from PIL import Image, ImageDraw, ImageFont

def plt_show(img):
    imageRGB = cv2.cvtColor(img, cv2.COLOR_BGR2RGB)
    plt.imshow(imageRGB)
    plt.show()

image = cv2.imread('SXC.jpg', 0)  # foreground
image_resize = cv2.resize(image, None, fx=0.3, fy=0.3, interpolation=cv2.INTER_CUBIC)
ret, image_binary = cv2.threshold(image_resize, 80, 255, cv2.THRESH_BINARY)
image_roi = image_binary[74:185, 0:150]
rows, cols = image_roi.shape
M = cv2.getRotationMatrix2D(((cols-1)/2.0, (rows-1)/2.0), 15, 1)
image_rotate = cv2.warpAffine(image_roi, M, (140, 130))
# fill unwanted areas
h, w = image_rotate.shape
image_rotate_copy = image_rotate.copy()
pts1 = np.array([[0, 20], [64, 0], [0, 0]], np.int32)
pts2 = np.array([[0, 18], [0, h], [80, h]], np.int32)
pts3 = np.array([[0, 100], [0, h], [w, h], [w, 100]], np.int32)
pts4 = np.array([[111, 0], [w, 0], [w, 30]], np.int32)
pts5 = np.array([[124, 0], [115, h], [w, h]], np.int32)
pts6 = np.array([[120, 40], [95, 100], [120, 100]], np.int32)
foreground = cv2.fillPoly(image_rotate_copy, [pts1], (255, 255, 255))
foreground = cv2.fillPoly(image_rotate_copy, [pts2], (255, 255, 255))
foreground = cv2.fillPoly(image_rotate_copy, [pts3], (255, 255, 255))
foreground = cv2.fillPoly(image_rotate_copy, [pts4], (255, 255, 255))
foreground = cv2.fillPoly(image_rotate_copy, [pts5], (255, 255, 255))
foreground = cv2.fillPoly(image_rotate_copy, [pts6], (255, 255, 255))
foreground_roi = foreground[0:93, 0:125]
foreground_roi_resize = cv2.resize(foreground_roi, None, fx=2.5, fy=2.5, interpolation=cv2.INTER_CUBIC)
background = cv2.imread('back.jpg', 0)
# combine
h_f, w_f = foreground_roi_resize.shape
h_b, w_b = background.shape
left = (w_b - w_f) // 2
right = left + w_f
top = 80
bottom = top + h_f
emoji = background
emoji[top:bottom, left:right] = foreground_roi_resize
# add Chinese text via Pillow
PilImg = Image.fromarray(emoji)
draw = ImageDraw.Draw(PilImg)
ttfront = ImageFont.truetype('simhei.ttf', 34)
draw.text((210, 450), "你瞅啥！！", fill=0, font=ttfront)
emoji_text = cv2.cvtColor(np.array(PilImg), cv2.COLOR_RGB2BGR)
cv2.imwrite('./emoji.png', np.array(emoji_text))