How to Add and Edit Text on Images with Python Pillow

In this article we explore how to use the Python programming language and the Pillow (PIL) library to edit and beautify images, focusing on adding or modifying text. The technique is useful for image processing, advertising design, and social media content creation.

Pillow (PIL) Library Overview

Pillow is an active fork of the Python Imaging Library (PIL) that offers powerful image processing capabilities. It handles basic loading and displaying as well as complex transformations, and its simple API makes it one of the most popular image libraries in Python.

Practical Example: Adding or Modifying Text on an Image

The following code demonstrates the complete workflow:

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

# Load the image
img_path = 'C:\Users\heish\Downloads\111a7dd0d5e04bfb9c07dc1f6e0686fa.png'
image = Image.open(img_path)

# Initialize drawing context
draw = ImageDraw.Draw(image)

# Text settings
text = "99.999"
position = (580, 230)  # where the new text should appear
text_color = (255, 255, 255)
font_size = 50
font_path = "C:\Windows\Fonts\simsunb.ttf"
font = ImageFont.truetype(font_path, font_size)

# Overwrite the existing number with a rectangle matching the background
rectangle_position = (position[0], position[1], position[0] + 210, position[1] + 60)
draw.rectangle(rectangle_position, fill=(18, 18, 18))

# Draw the new text onto the image
draw.text(position, text, fill=text_color, font=font)

# Save the edited image
edited_img_path = 'C:\Users\heish\Downloads\111a7dd0d5e04bfb9c07dc1f6e0686fa_1.png'
image.save(edited_img_path)

# Display the edited image
plt.imshow(image)
plt.axis('off')
plt.show()

edited_img_path

Step‑by‑Step Technical Points

Load the image : Use Image.open to read the target file.

Initialize drawing context : Create a ImageDraw.Draw object to enable drawing operations on the image.

Text settings : Define the text content, position, color, font size, and font file; these choices greatly affect visual quality.

Background handling : If overwriting existing text, draw a rectangle with the background color to mask the old content before adding new text.

Draw text : Call draw.text with the prepared settings to render the new text.

Save the edited image : Use image.save to write the result to a file.

Display the image : Use matplotlib.pyplot to show the edited image directly in a notebook.

Practical Tips and Considerations

Choose font type and size that harmonize with the image’s visual style.

When covering existing elements, match the rectangle color to the background for seamless replacement.

Combine Pillow with other libraries such as Matplotlib to extend functionality and visualization options.

Conclusion

By following this guide, readers learn how to add or modify text on images using Pillow, a skill applicable across many domains. Pillow’s ease of use makes Python a powerful tool for image editing and processing.