How do I install PIL/Pillow for Python 3.6? - python-3.x

Question

I have a script that requires PIL to run. Other than downgrading my Python, I couldn't find anyway to install PIL on my Python 3.6
Here are my attempts:
pip install pil
Collecting pil
Could not find a version that satisfies the requirement pil (from versions: )
No matching distribution found for pil
pip install Pillow
Collecting Pillow
Using cached Pillow-3.3.1.zip
Installing collected packages: Pillow
Running setup.py install for Pillow ... error
Complete output from command c:\python\python36\python.exe -u -c "import setuptools, tokenize;__file__='C:\\Users\\ABDULR~1\\AppData\\Local\\Temp\\pip-build-rez5zpri\\Pillow\\setup.py';exec(compile(getattr(tokenize, 'open', open)(__file__).read().replace('\r\n', '\n'), __file__, 'exec'))" install --record C:\Users\ABDULR~1\AppData\Local\Temp\pip-a5bugnjo-record\install-record.txt --single-version-externally-managed --compile:
Single threaded build for windows
running install
running build
running build_py
creating build
creating build\lib.win-amd64-3.6
creating build\lib.win-amd64-3.6\PIL
copying PIL\......................
..................................
..................................
running egg_info
writing Pillow.egg-info\PKG-INFO
writing dependency_links to Pillow.egg-info\dependency_links.txt
writing top-level names to Pillow.egg-info\top_level.txt
warning: manifest_maker: standard file '-c' not found
reading manifest file 'Pillow.egg-info\SOURCES.txt'
reading manifest template 'MANIFEST.in'
warning: no files found matching '*.sh'
no previously-included directories found matching 'docs\_static'
warning: no previously-included files found matching '.coveragerc'
warning: no previously-included files found matching '.editorconfig'
warning: no previously-included files found matching '.landscape.yaml'
warning: no previously-included files found matching 'appveyor.yml'
warning: no previously-included files found matching 'build_children.sh'
warning: no previously-included files found matching 'tox.ini'
warning: no previously-included files matching '.git*' found anywhere in distribution
warning: no previously-included files matching '*.pyc' found anywhere in distribution
warning: no previously-included files matching '*.so' found anywhere in distribution
writing manifest file 'Pillow.egg-info\SOURCES.txt'
copying PIL\OleFileIO-README.md -> build\lib.win-amd64-3.6\PIL
running build_ext
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "<string>", line 1, in <module>
File "C:\Users\ABDULR~1\AppData\Local\Temp\pip-build-rez5zpri\Pillow\setup.py", line 753, in <module>
zip_safe=not debug_build(), )
File "c:\python\python36\lib\distutils\core.py", line 148, in setup
dist.run_commands()
File "c:\python\python36\lib\distutils\dist.py", line 955, in run_commands
self.run_command(cmd)
File "c:\python\python36\lib\distutils\dist.py", line 974, in run_command
cmd_obj.run()
File "c:\python\python36\lib\site-packages\setuptools\command\install.py", line 61, in run
return orig.install.run(self)
File "c:\python\python36\lib\distutils\command\install.py", line 539, in run
self.run_command('build')
File "c:\python\python36\lib\distutils\cmd.py", line 313, in run_command
self.distribution.run_command(command)
File "c:\python\python36\lib\distutils\dist.py", line 974, in run_command
cmd_obj.run()
File "c:\python\python36\lib\distutils\command\build.py", line 135, in run
self.run_command(cmd_name)
File "c:\python\python36\lib\distutils\cmd.py", line 313, in run_command
self.distribution.run_command(command)
File "c:\python\python36\lib\distutils\dist.py", line 974, in run_command
cmd_obj.run()
File "c:\python\python36\lib\distutils\command\build_ext.py", line 338, in run
self.build_extensions()
File "C:\Users\ABDULR~1\AppData\Local\Temp\pip-build-rez5zpri\Pillow\setup.py", line 521, in build_extensions
' using --disable-%s, aborting' % (f, f))
ValueError: zlib is required unless explicitly disabled using --disable-zlib, aborting
----------------------------------------
Command "c:\python\python36\python.exe -u -c "import setuptools, tokenize;__file__='C:\\Users\\ABDULR~1\\AppData\\Local\\Temp\\pip-build-rez5zpri\\Pillow\\setup.py';exec(compile(getattr(tokenize, 'open', open)(__file__).read().replace('\r\n', '\n'), __file__, 'exec'))" install --record C:\Users\ABDULR~1\AppData\Local\Temp\pip-a5bugnjo-record\install-record.txt --single-version-externally-managed --compile" failed with error code 1 in C:\Users\ABDULR~1\AppData\Local\Temp\pip-build-rez5zpri\Pillow\
Didn't know to add argument --disable-zlib, pip install Pillow --disable-zlib wasn't correct.
Couldn't find what matches my system here: https://pypi.python.org/pypi/Pillow/3.0.0
64-bit Windows 10 & Python 3.6

Answer 1

For python version 2.x you can simply use
pip install pillow
But for python version 3.X you need to specify
(sudo) pip3 install pillow
when you enter pip in bash hit tab and you will see what options you have

Answer 2

You can download the wheel corresponding to your configuration here ("Pillow‑4.1.1‑cp36‑cp36m‑win_amd64.whl" in your case) and install it with:
pip install some-package.whl
If you have problem to install the wheel read this answer

Answer 3

Pillow is released with installation wheels on Windows:
We provide Pillow binaries for Windows
compiled for the matrix of supported Pythons
in both 32 and 64-bit versions in wheel, egg,
and executable installers. These binaries have
all of the optional libraries included
https://pillow.readthedocs.io/en/3.3.x/installation.html#basic-installation
Update: Python 3.6 is now supported by Pillow. Install with pip install pillow and check https://pillow.readthedocs.io/en/latest/installation.html for more information.
However, Python 3.6 is still in alpha and not officially supported yet, although the tests do all pass for the nightly Python builds (currently 3.6a4).
https://travis-ci.org/python-pillow/Pillow/jobs/155605577
If it's somehow possible to install the 3.5 wheel for 3.6, that's your best bet. Otherwise, zlib notwithstanding, you'll need to build from source, requiring an MS Visual C++ compiler, and which isn't straightforward. For tips see:
https://pillow.readthedocs.io/en/3.3.x/installation.html#building-from-source
And also see how it's built for Windows on AppVeyor CI (but not yet 3.5 or 3.6):
https://github.com/python-pillow/Pillow/tree/master/winbuild
Failing that, downgrade to Python 3.5 or wait until 3.6 is supported by Pillow, probably closer to the 3.6's official release.

Answer 4

In Windows 10 for those struggling to install PIL/pillow while coding on PyCharm and have Python 3.10.6 proceed as follows;
Close PyCharm IDE Open and Run CMD.exe prompt as Administrator
In CMD prompt, run pip3 install pillow
After pillow is installed, close CMD prompt
Open PyCharm IDE and you will see that you can now import PIL