Creating a Panda‑Head Meme with Python, OpenCV and Pillow

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 onto it to create a meme.

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 meme.

Add text below the meme.

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. Plotting Helper 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. Resize Foreground Proportionally

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

5. Binarize Foreground

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

6. Extract Region of Interest

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

7. Rotate Foreground

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

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 and Resize ROI Again

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 Meme

12.1 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

PilImg = Image.fromarray(emoji)  # cv2 to 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 back to cv2
plt_show(emoji_text)

13. Save the Meme

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

Full 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
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))