How to update the image of a Tkinter Label widget?

I would like to be able to swap out an image on a Tkinter label, but I’m not sure how to do it, except for replacing the widget itself.

Currently, I can display an image like so:

import Tkinter as tk
import ImageTk

root = tk.Tk()
img = ImageTk.PhotoImage(Image.open(path))
panel = tk.Label(root, image = img)
panel.pack(side = "bottom", fill = "both", expand = "yes")
root.mainloop()

However, when the user hits, say the ENTER key, I’d like to change the image.

import Tkinter as tk
import ImageTk

root = tk.Tk()

img = ImageTk.PhotoImage(Image.open(path))
panel = tk.Label(root, image = img)
panel.pack(side = "bottom", fill = "both", expand = "yes")

def callback(e):
    # change image

root.bind("<Return>", callback)
root.mainloop()

Is this possible?

Answers:

Thank you for visiting the Q&A section on Magenaut. Please note that all the answers may not help you solve the issue immediately. So please treat them as advisements. If you found the post helpful (or not), leave a comment & I’ll get back to you as soon as possible.

Method 1

The method label.configure does work in panel.configure(image=img).

What I forgot to do was include the panel.image=img, to prevent garbage collection from deleting the image.

The following is the new version:

import Tkinter as tk
import ImageTk


root = tk.Tk()

img = ImageTk.PhotoImage(Image.open(path))
panel = tk.Label(root, image=img)
panel.pack(side="bottom", fill="both", expand="yes")

def callback(e):
    img2 = ImageTk.PhotoImage(Image.open(path2))
    panel.configure(image=img2)
    panel.image = img2

root.bind("<Return>", callback)
root.mainloop()

The original code works because the image is stored in the global variable img.

Method 2

Another option to do it.

Using object-oriented programming and with an interactive interface to update the image.

from Tkinter import *
import tkFileDialog
from tkFileDialog import askdirectory
from PIL import  Image

class GUI(Frame):

    def __init__(self, master=None):
        Frame.__init__(self, master)
        w,h = 650, 650
        master.minsize(width=w, height=h)
        master.maxsize(width=w, height=h)
        self.pack()

        self.file = Button(self, text='Browse', command=self.choose)
        self.choose = Label(self, text="Choose file").pack()
        self.image = PhotoImage(file='cualitativa.gif')
        self.label = Label(image=self.image)


        self.file.pack()
        self.label.pack()

    def choose(self):
        ifile = tkFileDialog.askopenfile(parent=self,mode='rb',title='Choose a file')
        path = ifile.name
        self.image2 = PhotoImage(file=path)
        self.label.configure(image=self.image2)
        self.label.image=self.image2


root = Tk()
app = GUI(master=root)
app.mainloop()
root.destroy()

Replace ‘cualitativa.jpg’ for the default image you want to use.

Method 3

Another solution that might be of help.

In my case, I had two tk.Tk() windows. When using ImageTk.PhotoImage(), the object defaults to setting its tk window to being the first one created. A simple fix to this is to pass the tk window that you want as such ImageTk.PhotoImage(img, master=your_window)

import tkinter as tk 
from PIL import ImageTk, Image
if __name__ == '__main__':
     main_window = tk.Tk()
     second_window = tk.Tk()
     
     main_canvas = Canvas(second_window)
     main_canvas.pack()
     
     filename = 'test.png'

     img = Image.open(filename)
     img = img.resize((300, 100), Image.ANTIALIAS)
     logo = ImageTk.PhotoImage(img, master=second_window)
     logo_label = Label(master=main_canvas, image=logo)
     logo_label.image = logo
     logo_label.pack()

     main_window.mainloop()

All methods was sourced from stackoverflow.com or stackexchange.com, is licensed under cc by-sa 2.5, cc by-sa 3.0 and cc by-sa 4.0