ImportError: Could not import PIL.Image. The use of load_img requires PIL

[dkgaraujo]

Hi all,
I was running the following example from the RStudio TensorFlow page, without the only change being the setup of the environment: https://tensorflow.rstudio.com/tutorials/advanced/images/transfer-learning-hub/

However, midway the following error occurred:

ImportError: Could not import PIL.Image. The use of load_img requires PIL.

I am running on MacOS 11.0.1 with the Apple TensorFlow backend. My reticulate::py_config() returns the following result:

python:         /Users/douglasaraujo/tensorflow_macos_venv/bin/python
libpython:      /Users/douglasaraujo/opt/anaconda3/lib/libpython3.8.dylib
pythonhome:     /Users/douglasaraujo/opt/anaconda3:/Users/douglasaraujo/opt/anaconda3
version:        3.8.3 (default, Jul  2 2020, 11:26:31)  [Clang 10.0.0 ]
numpy:          /Users/douglasaraujo/tensorflow_macos_venv/lib/python3.8/site-packages/numpy
numpy_version:  1.18.5

NOTE: Python version was forced by use_python function

I installed Pillow with the following terminal code:

$ ~/tensorflow_macos_venv/bin/pip install Pillow

and I can confirm it works by the following terminal code:

$  ~/tensorflow_macos_venv/bin/python 3
>>> import PIL.Image
>>> # success

So I don't know what else I could do to address the ImportError mentioned at the beginning. Any pointer/helper is much appreciated.

[nickschurch]

Did you solve this?

[t-kalinowski]

The original issue was almost certainly due to reticulate loading the wrong python (note the mismatch between the python binary in a venv, and libpython and pythonhome being from a different, anaconda, python installation).

In any case, the latest version of reticulate (1.31) has updated python finding behavior, and the tensorFlow + keras packages have updated installation routines to match. This alone should now work:

remotes::install_github("rstudio/reticulate")
remotes::install_github("rstudio/tensorflow")
remotes::install_github("rstudio/keras")

reticulate::install_python()
keras::install_keras()
# restart the R session, cmd+shift+0 or ctrl+shift+F10
library(keras)
# everything should now work

[nickschurch]

yep, all working now. Just needed to reload the Rstudio R session after installing pillow.