Problem with PIL and compression format

[Jeff Shannon]

In article <mailman.1018602385.24023.python-list at python.org>, 
maric.michaud at cirec.com says...
 
> I tried ro include tif image in a pdf document with reportlab and Python
> 2.0, PIL 1.1.3.
> This work pretty well with uncompressed and 'Pack Bits" compressed TIFF
> files, but not with "CCITT group 4" that I need.
> Anyone has a suggestion for this ?

The problem here is that PIL doesn't include a codec for CCITT4 
compression.  (It's been asked for before, with no luck yet -- I 
imagine that /F has his hands full with more important things.  
And considering what we've paid for PIL, I'd hardly feel right 
about complaining... ;) )  

The only two solutions to this would be to 1) write your own 
codec (possibly submitting it as a patch to PIL ;) ) or else 2) 
find some other program/library to decode the CCITT4 images, 
possibly converting them into a different format/compression 
scheme.  (A possible third solution might be to pay for Secret 
Labs to develop and add this, themselves, but I don't expect 
that's very practical...)

I'm using wxPython to read CCITT4 TIFFs, but I don't know if it's 
practical to use it for *just* that purpose (I'm handling them as 
part of a GUI app anyhow).  There's also a number of external 
programs that you could use to batch-convert your TIFFs to some 
other format. (ImageMagick?)

-- 

Jeff Shannon
Technician/Programmer
Credit International