ImportError: cannot import name '_imagingft' from 'PIL'

[bryankaplan]

Goal

Ultimately I'm trying to run detectron2. I've isolated the Pillow problem separate from detectron2, but that goal impacts my installation, as noted below.

Steps to Reproduce

On Void Linux:

$ python -m venv venv
$ . ./venv/bin/activate
$ pip install pillow==9.5.0 --no-binary :all:
$ ipython
In [1]: from PIL import _imagingft
ImportError: cannot import name '_imagingft' from 'PIL'

Whoa, what's up with that pip install line?

1. I'm installing 9.5 to work around this bug.
2. I'm installing with --no-binary :all: based on advice given in Error: cannot import name '_imagingft'  #7949.

Expected Result

_imagingft is successfully imported.

Observed Result

ImportError: cannot import name '_imagingft' from 'PIL'

OS, Python and Pillow versions

• OS: Void Linux, up-to-date as of yesterday
• Python: 3.12.4
• Pillow: 9.5

python3 -m PIL --report output:

--------------------------------------------------------------------
Pillow 9.5.0
Python 3.12.4 (main, Jun  9 2024, 22:05:49) [GCC 13.2.0]
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Python modules loaded from /tmp/pil-test/venv/lib/python3.12/site-packages/PIL
Binary modules loaded from /tmp/pil-test/venv/lib/python3.12/site-packages/PIL
--------------------------------------------------------------------
--- PIL CORE support ok, compiled for 9.5.0
*** TKINTER support not installed
*** FREETYPE2 support not installed
*** LITTLECMS2 support not installed
*** WEBP support not installed
*** WEBP Transparency support not installed
*** WEBPMUX support not installed
*** WEBP Animation support not installed
--- JPEG support ok, compiled for libjpeg-turbo 3.0.1
*** OPENJPEG (JPEG2000) support not installed
--- ZLIB (PNG/ZIP) support ok, loaded 1.3.1
*** LIBTIFF support not installed
*** RAQM (Bidirectional Text) support not installed
*** LIBIMAGEQUANT (Quantization method) support not installed
--- XCB (X protocol) support ok
--------------------------------------------------------------------
BLP
Extensions: .blp
Features: open, save, encode
--------------------------------------------------------------------
BMP image/bmp
Extensions: .bmp
Features: open, save
--------------------------------------------------------------------
BUFR
Extensions: .bufr
Features: open, save
--------------------------------------------------------------------
CUR
Extensions: .cur
Features: open
--------------------------------------------------------------------
DCX
Extensions: .dcx
Features: open
--------------------------------------------------------------------
DDS
Extensions: .dds
Features: open, save
--------------------------------------------------------------------
DIB image/bmp
Extensions: .dib
Features: open, save
--------------------------------------------------------------------
EPS application/postscript
Extensions: .eps, .ps
Features: open, save
--------------------------------------------------------------------
FITS
Extensions: .fit, .fits
Features: open, save
--------------------------------------------------------------------
FLI
Extensions: .flc, .fli
Features: open
--------------------------------------------------------------------
FTEX
Extensions: .ftc, .ftu
Features: open
--------------------------------------------------------------------
GBR
Extensions: .gbr
Features: open
--------------------------------------------------------------------
GIF image/gif
Extensions: .gif
Features: open, save, save_all
--------------------------------------------------------------------
GRIB
Extensions: .grib
Features: open, save
--------------------------------------------------------------------
HDF5
Extensions: .h5, .hdf
Features: open, save
--------------------------------------------------------------------
ICNS image/icns
Extensions: .icns
Features: open, save
--------------------------------------------------------------------
ICO image/x-icon
Extensions: .ico
Features: open, save
--------------------------------------------------------------------
IM
Extensions: .im
Features: open, save
--------------------------------------------------------------------
IMT
Features: open
--------------------------------------------------------------------
IPTC
Extensions: .iim
Features: open
--------------------------------------------------------------------
JPEG image/jpeg
Extensions: .jfif, .jpe, .jpeg, .jpg
Features: open, save
--------------------------------------------------------------------
JPEG2000 image/jp2
Extensions: .j2c, .j2k, .jp2, .jpc, .jpf, .jpx
Features: open, save
--------------------------------------------------------------------
MCIDAS
Features: open
--------------------------------------------------------------------
MPEG video/mpeg
Extensions: .mpeg, .mpg
Features: open
--------------------------------------------------------------------
MSP
Extensions: .msp
Features: open, save, decode
--------------------------------------------------------------------
PCD
Extensions: .pcd
Features: open
--------------------------------------------------------------------
PCX image/x-pcx
Extensions: .pcx
Features: open, save
--------------------------------------------------------------------
PIXAR
Extensions: .pxr
Features: open
--------------------------------------------------------------------
PNG image/png
Extensions: .apng, .png
Features: open, save, save_all
--------------------------------------------------------------------
PPM image/x-portable-anymap
Extensions: .pbm, .pgm, .pnm, .ppm
Features: open, save
--------------------------------------------------------------------
PSD image/vnd.adobe.photoshop
Extensions: .psd
Features: open
--------------------------------------------------------------------
QOI
Extensions: .qoi
Features: open
--------------------------------------------------------------------
SGI image/sgi
Extensions: .bw, .rgb, .rgba, .sgi
Features: open, save
--------------------------------------------------------------------
SPIDER
Features: open, save
--------------------------------------------------------------------
SUN
Extensions: .ras
Features: open
--------------------------------------------------------------------
TGA image/x-tga
Extensions: .icb, .tga, .vda, .vst
Features: open, save
--------------------------------------------------------------------
TIFF image/tiff
Extensions: .tif, .tiff
Features: open, save, save_all
--------------------------------------------------------------------
WEBP
Features: open
--------------------------------------------------------------------
WMF
Extensions: .emf, .wmf
Features: open, save
--------------------------------------------------------------------
XBM image/xbm
Extensions: .xbm
Features: open, save
--------------------------------------------------------------------
XPM image/xpm
Extensions: .xpm
Features: open
--------------------------------------------------------------------
XVTHUMB
Features: open
--------------------------------------------------------------------

Please include code that reproduces the issue

Done, above.

Thoughts

I reckon I'm probably missing a dependency, but I don't know what. I've tried installing freetype-devel, libjpeg-turbo-devel, and libraqm-devel to no avail.

[aclark4life]

Have you tried the void linux binary ?

[Yay295]

ipython may not be using your local venv. Try pip install ipython after activating your environment.

[nulano]

I reckon I'm probably missing a dependency, but I don't know what. I've tried installing freetype-devel

If you're installing from source (which you are, since you used --no-binary :all:), then yes, you need freetype-devel. But that should be the only dependency you need for fonts if void linux is at all reasonable (which I assume it is).

---

ipython may not be using your local venv. Try pip install ipython after activating your environment.

Good point. @bryankaplan Does running the following produce the same output as your python3 -m PIL --report above?

from PIL import features
features.pilinfo()

[bryankaplan]

Have you tried the void linux binary ?

@aclark4life That's v10.4, and I need 9.5.

ipython may not be using your local venv. Try pip install ipython after activating your environment.

@Yay295 Yes, it is. This code was extracted from the larger project to demonstrate the problem. But I tried installing ipython in the venv, just to be sure, and indeed the ImportError is identical.

[bryankaplan]

Does running the following produce the same output as your python3 -m PIL --report above?

@nulano They're 100% identical. (I diff'd the output.)

[nulano]

Ok, I've managed to reproduce in a Docker container.

You probably tried to install Pillow before installing freetype-devel, which didn't work:

$ docker pull ghcr.io/void-linux/void-glibc-full
$ docker run --rm -it ghcr.io/void-linux/void-glibc-full
# xbps-install -Su
[...]
# xbps-install gcc python3-devel libjpeg-turbo-devel zlib-devel freetype-devel
[...]
# python -m venv venv
# . ./venv/bin/activate
(venv) # pip install pillow==9.5.0 --no-binary :all:
[...]
(venv) # python -c "from PIL import _imagingft; print(_imagingft.freetype2_version)"
ImportError: cannot import name '_imagingft' from 'PIL' (/venv/lib/python3.12/site-packages/PIL/__init__.py)

Even if you then install freetype-devel and try to install Pillow in a new venv, it will use a cached wheel:

(venv) # deactivate
# xbps-install freetype-devel
[...]
# python -m venv venv2
# . ./venv2/bin/activate
(venv2) # pip install pillow==9.5.0 --no-binary :all:
Collecting pillow==9.5.0
  Using cached Pillow-9.5.0-cp312-cp312-linux_x86_64.whl
Installing collected packages: pillow
Successfully installed pillow-9.5.0
(venv2) # python -c "from PIL import _imagingft; print(_imagingft.freetype2_version)"
ImportError: cannot import name '_imagingft' from 'PIL' (/venv/lib/python3.12/site-packages/PIL/__init__.py)

You have to add a parameter to pip to ask it to ignore the cached wheel (--no-cache-dir Pillow), or just remove the wheel from cache with pip cache remove Pillow:

(venv2) # deactivate
# python -m venv venv3
# . ./venv3/bin/activate
(venv3) # pip cache remove Pillow
(venv3) # pip install pillow==9.5.0 --no-binary :all:
[...]
(venv3) # python -c "from PIL import _imagingft; print(_imagingft.freetype2_version)"
2.13.2

Does that help?

[bryankaplan]

@nulano Thank you! I knew as soon as I started reading your thought that it was probably the answer, and I started typing this response before the test was complete. Test succeeded. Thank you so much!