The problem with installing PIL using virtualenv or buildout

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The PIL version packaged on pypi (by the author) is incompatible with setuptools and thus not easy_installable. People have created easy_installable versions elsewhere. Currently, you need to specify a find-links URL and use pip get a good package:

pip install --no-index -f http://dist.plone.org/thirdparty/ -U PIL

By using pip install with the --no-index you avoid running the risk of finding the PyPI (non-fixed) original of PIL. If you were to use easy_install, you must use a direct link to the source tarball of a corrected version; easy_install stubbornly still uses the PyPI link over the find-links URL:

easy_install http://dist.plone.org/thirdparty/PIL-1.1.7.tar.gz

To include PIL in a buildout, either specify the egg with the same version pin or use a versions section:

[buildout]
parts =
find-links =
    http://dist.plone.org/thirdparty/
eggs =
    PIL
versions = versions

[versions]
PIL = 1.1.7

Edit March 2011: Fixes to address the packaging issues have been merged into PIL’s development tree now, so this workaround may soon be obsolete.

Edit February 2013: Just use Pillow and be done with it. 🙂 Clearly waiting for the original package to be fixed has not paid off.

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