PatchMatch Cython

High-performance PatchMatch implementation for pyramidical image inpainting in cython.

This package can function without python-opencv / python-opencv-headless with only slightly reduced quality.

Installing OpenCV results in this packaging using it for upsampling (INTER_LINEAR).

When OpenCV is not installed, an implementation of bilinear upscaling using numpy will be used.

This package provides a pure python solver and a cython solver, the cython solver is around 30 to 50 times faster than the python solver depending on patch size.

Installation

pip install patchmatch-cython

From source:

git clone <repository-url>
cd patchmatch-cython
pip install .

Usage

With OpenCV

import cv2
from patchmatch_cython import inpaint_pyramid

# Load image and mask
image = cv2.imread('image.jpg')
mask = cv2.imread('mask.png', 0) > 128

# Inpaint
result = inpaint_pyramid(image, mask)

cv2.imwrite('result.jpg', result)

With Pillow

import numpy as np
from PIL import Image
from patchmatch_cython import inpaint_pyramid

# Load image and mask  
image = np.array(Image.open('image.jpg'))
mask = np.array(Image.open('mask.png').convert('L')) > 128

# Inpaint (auto-selects fastest available solver)
result = inpaint_pyramid(image, mask)

Image.fromarray(result).save('result.jpg')

Explicit Solver Selection

from patchmatch_cython import PythonSolver, CythonSolver, inpaint_pyramid

# Force specific solver
result = inpaint_pyramid(image, mask, solver_class=CythonSolver)  # Fast
result = inpaint_pyramid(image, mask, solver_class=PythonSolver)  # Fallback

Package Extras

For examples:

pip install patchmatch-cython[visualization]

Adds: matplotlib, Pillow

For development:

pip install patchmatch-cython[dev]

Adds: pytest, build, cibuildwheel, setuptools, wheel

Building

To build wheels locally for distribution or development:

Prerequisites

Install build dependencies:

pip install cibuildwheel

Build Wheels

Use the included local_build.py script to build locally:

# Build for all supported Python versions (3.10-3.14)
python local_build.py

# Build for specific Python versions
python local_build.py --python 3.11 3.12

# Build for specific platform
python local_build.py --platform linux

# Build and test wheel installation
python local_build.py --test

# Build without cleaning previous artifacts
python local_build.py --no-clean

# View all options
python local_build.py --help

Build Options

• --python: Specify Python versions to build for (e.g., 3.11 3.12)
• --platform: Target platform (auto, linux, macos, windows)
• --test: Test wheel installation after building
• --no-clean: Skip cleaning build artifacts before building

Requirements

• Python 3.10+
• NumPy (auto-installed)
• C++ compiler (for building from source)