HeliOS

HeliOS is a small, pure-Python image library inspired by Pillow. It focuses on image creation, drawing, editing, and PNG files, and is designed for Python runtimes where native extensions are unavailable.

The PyPI distribution name is helios-image. Use import helios; the older import pilIOS remains supported.

Install

Once published to PyPI:

python -m pip install helios-image

In PyPhone, use the wheel artifact from the repository's Actions tab and place it in the Packages folder, then restart PyPhone.

Quick start

import helios

im = helios.new("RGB", (160, 100), (25, 35, 55))
im.rectangle((10, 10, 80, 55), fill=(30, 160, 230), outline=(255, 255, 255))
im.ellipse((90, 10, 145, 65), fill=(255, 100, 80))
im.line((10, 80, 145, 80), fill=(255, 220, 80), width=3)
im.save("art.png")

loaded = helios.open("art.png")
loaded.flip_left_right().save("art_mirrored.png")

Image features

• Modes: L, LA, RGB, and RGBA
• Read and write supported 8-bit grayscale, grayscale-alpha, RGB, and RGBA PNGs
• Pixel access: getpixel, putpixel, getdata, and putdata
• Editing: copy, crop, resize, paste, and blend
• Drawing: line, rectangle, ellipse, and polygon
• Transforms: rotate, flip_left_right, and flip_top_bottom
• Color operations: convert, grayscale, and invert
• Standard library only; no compiled extensions or third-party runtime dependencies

HeliOS does not include a UI toolkit and does not require pyUI. UI libraries can optionally accept HeliOS image objects by converting them to PNG bytes through the image object's save() method.

HeliOS is not yet a drop-in replacement for Pillow. JPEG, GIF, palette PNG, text rendering, filters, and advanced Pillow APIs are not implemented.

Compatibility

Existing projects using import pilIOS can continue to do so.