How you should install scikit-image
depends on your needs and skills:
- First, ensure that you have Python installed. Two popular alternatives are the pip-based Python.org installers and the conda-based miniforge.
- Install scikit-image via pip or conda, as appropriate.
- Or, build the package from source. Do this if you'd like to contribute to development.
- Windows 64-bit on x86 processors
- macOS on x86 and M (ARM) processors
- Linux 64-bit on x86 processors
While we do not officially support other platforms, you could still try building from source.
To see whether scikit-image
is already installed or to check if an install has
worked, run the following in a Python shell or Jupyter notebook:
import skimage as ski
print(ski.__version__)
or, from the command line:
python -c "import skimage; print(skimage.__version__)"
(Try python3
if python
is unsuccessful.)
You'll see the version number if scikit-image
is installed and
an error message otherwise.
These install only scikit-image
and its dependencies; pip has an option to
include related packages.
Prerequisites to a pip install: You're able to use your system's command line to install packages and are using a virtual environment (any of several).
While it is possible to use pip without a virtual environment, it is not advised: virtual environments create a clean Python environment that does not interfere with any existing system installation, can be easily removed, and contain only the package versions your application needs. They help avoid a common challenge known as dependency hell.
To install the current scikit-image
you'll need at least Python 3.10. If
your Python is older, pip will find the most recent compatible version.
# Update pip
python -m pip install -U pip
# Install scikit-image
python -m pip install -U scikit-image
To access the full selection of demo datasets, use scikit-image[data]
.
To include a selection of other scientific Python packages that expand
scikit-image
's capabilities to include, e.g., parallel processing, you
can install the package scikit-image[optional]
:
python -m pip install -U scikit-image[optional]
Warning
Please do not use the command sudo
and pip
together as pip
may
overwrite critical system libraries which may require you to reinstall your
operating system.
Miniconda is a bare-essentials version of the Anaconda package; you'll need to
install packages like scikit-image
yourself. Like Anaconda, it installs
Python and provides virtual environments.
- conda documentation
- Miniconda
- conda-forge, a conda channel maintained
with the latest
scikit-image
package
Once you have your conda environment set up, you can install scikit-image
with the command:
conda install scikit-image
Using a package manager (yum
, apt-get
, etc.) to install scikit-image
or other Python packages is not your best option:
- You're likely to get an older version.
- You'll probably want to make updates and add new packages outside of the package manager, leaving you with the same kind of dependency conflicts you see when using pip without a virtual environment.
- There's an added risk because operating systems use Python, so if you make system-wide Python changes (installing as root or using sudo), you can break the operating system.
Some of the data used in our examples is hosted online and is not installed
by default by the procedures explained above. Data are downloaded once, at the
first call, but this requires an internet connection. If you prefer downloading
all the demo datasets to be able to work offline, ensure that package pooch
is installed and then run this command:
python -c 'import skimage as ski; ski.data.download_all()'
or call ski.data.download_all()
in your favourite interactive Python environment
(IPython, Jupyter notebook, ...).
If you still have questions, reach out through
- our user forum
- our developer forum
- our chat channel
- Stack Overflow
To suggest a change in these instructions, please open an issue on GitHub.
We are assuming that you have a default Python environment already configured on
your computer and that you intend to install scikit-image
inside of it.
We also make a few more assumptions about your system:
- You have a C compiler set up.
- You have a C++ compiler set up.
- You are running a version of Python compatible with our system as listed in our pyproject.toml.
- You've cloned the git repository into a directory called
scikit-image
. You have set up the upstream remote to point to our repository and origin to point to your fork.
This directory contains the following files:
scikit-image ├── asv.conf.json ├── azure-pipelines.yml ├── benchmarks/ ├── CITATION.bib ├── CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md ├── CONTRIBUTING.rst ├── CONTRIBUTORS.txt ├── doc/ ├── INSTALL.rst ├── LICENSE.txt ├── MANIFEST.in ├── meson.build ├── meson.md ├── pyproject.toml ├── README.md ├── RELEASE.txt ├── requirements/ ├── requirements.txt ├── skimage/ ├── TODO.txt └── tools/
All commands below are assumed to be running from the scikit-image
directory containing the files above.
Once you've cloned your fork of the scikit-image repository,
you should set up a Python development environment tailored for scikit-image.
You may choose the environment manager of your choice.
Here we provide instructions for two popular environment managers:
venv
(pip based) and conda
(Anaconda or Miniconda).
# Create a virtualenv named ``skimage-dev`` that lives outside of the repository.
# One common convention is to place it inside an ``envs`` directory under your home directory:
mkdir ~/envs
python -m venv ~/envs/skimage-dev
# Activate it
# (On Windows, please use ``skimage-dev\Scripts\activate``)
source ~/envs/skimage-dev/bin/activate
# Install main development and runtime dependencies
pip install -r requirements.txt
# Install build dependencies of scikit-image
pip install -r requirements/build.txt
# Build scikit-image from source
spin build
# The new version lives under `${PWD}/build-install/.../site-packages`.
# Test your installation
spin test
# Build docs
spin docs
# Try the new version in IPython
spin ipython
When using conda for development, we recommend adding the conda-forge channel for the most up-to-date version of many dependencies. Some dependencies we use (for testing and documentation) are not available from the default Anaconda channel. Please follow the official conda-forge installation instructions before you get started.
# Create a conda environment named ``skimage-dev``
conda create --name skimage-dev
# Activate it
conda activate skimage-dev
# Install main development and runtime dependencies
conda install -c conda-forge --file requirements/default.txt
conda install -c conda-forge --file requirements/test.txt
conda install -c conda-forge pre-commit
# Install build dependencies of scikit-image
pip install -r requirements/build.txt
# Build scikit-image from source
spin build
# The new version lives under `${PWD}/build-install/.../site-packages`.
# Test your installation
spin test
# Build docs
spin docs
# Try the new version in IPython
spin ipython
For more information about building and using the spin
package, see meson.md
.
Test your installation for correct behavior using:
pytest skimage
Before updating your installation, you typically want to grab the latest source:
git checkout main
git pull upstream main
And you likely want to create a feature branch from there. As you work on this branch, you can re-build scikit-image using:
spin build
Repeated, incremental builds usually work just fine, but if you notice build problems, rebuild from scratch using:
spin build --clean
Windows
A run-through of the compilation process for Windows is included in our setup of Azure Pipelines (a continuous integration service).
Debian and Ubuntu
Install suitable compilers:
sudo apt-get install build-essential
Build Requirements
Runtime Requirements
Test Requirements
Documentation Requirements
Developer Requirements
Data Requirements
The full selection of demo datasets is only available with the following installed:
Optional Requirements
You can use scikit-image
with the basic requirements listed above, but some
functionality is only available with the following installed:
- Astropy
- Provides FITS I/O capability.
- PyAMG
- The
pyamg
module is used for the fastcg_mg
mode of random walker segmentation.
- Dask
- The
dask
module is used to speed up certain functions.
- Matplotlib
- Used in various functions, e.g., for drawing, segmenting, reading images.
See Additional help above.