Python EFL: Displaying and Selecting Images (2026)

Looking for a high-performance way to display images in a Python GUI? This Python EFL tutorial covers the Image widget and the FileselectorButton, allowing you to build applications that can view and change images dynamically. Python-EFL is a wrapper around the Enlightenment GUI kit, designed for speed and visual richness.

TL;DR: Image Handling Summary

Image Widget: Used to display static or dynamic image files.
File Selector: A built-in button that opens a native file picker.
Key Methods: file_set() to load images and tooltip_text_set() for metadata.
Supported Formats: Common formats include PNG, JPG, and GIF.

What is Python EFL?

Python EFL is a set of Python bindings for the Enlightenment Foundation Libraries. It is particularly well-suited for developers who need to build “modern” looking applications that are extremely light on system resources, making it a favorite for Linux desktop and IoT development.

Example 1: Simple Image Display

This first example shows the most basic way to load and display a PNG file in a standard window.

'''
Abdur-Ramaan Janhangeer
Updated from Jeff Hoogland's tutos
for Python3.9 and Python-elf 1.25.0

https://www.toolbox.com/tech/operating-systems/blogs/py-efl-tutorial-4-displaying-images-042415/

Needs one image called image.png
'''

import efl.elementary as elm
from efl.elementary.image import Image
from efl.elementary.label import Label
from efl.elementary.window import StandardWindow
from efl.evas import EVAS_HINT_EXPAND

EXPAND_BOTH = EVAS_HINT_EXPAND, EVAS_HINT_EXPAND


class MainWindow(StandardWindow):
    def __init__(self):
        StandardWindow.__init__(self, "ex1", "Hello Elementary", size=(300, 200))
        self.callback_delete_request_add(lambda o: elm.exit())
        our_image = Image(self)
        our_image.size_hint_weight = EXPAND_BOTH
        our_image.file_set("image.png")
        our_image.tooltip_text_set("A picture!")
        our_image.show()
        self.resize_object_add(our_image)


if __name__ == "__main__":
    elm.init()
    gui = MainWindow()
    gui.show()
    elm.run()

Example 2: Interactive Image Selection

In this version, we add a FileselectorButton that allows the user to browse their computer and update the displayed image.

import os
import efl.elementary as elm
from efl.elementary.window import StandardWindow
from efl.elementary.image import Image
from efl.elementary.box import Box
from efl.elementary.fileselector_button import FileselectorButton
from efl.evas import EVAS_HINT_EXPAND, EVAS_HINT_FILL

EXPAND_BOTH = EVAS_HINT_EXPAND, EVAS_HINT_EXPAND
EXPAND_HORIZ = EVAS_HINT_EXPAND, 0.0
FILL_BOTH = EVAS_HINT_FILL, EVAS_HINT_FILL


class MainWindow(StandardWindow):
    def __init__(self):
        StandardWindow.__init__(self, "ex6", "Selected Image", size=(300, 200))
        self.callback_delete_request_add(lambda o: elm.exit())
        self.our_image = our_image = Image(self)
        our_image.size_hint_weight = EXPAND_BOTH
        our_image.size_hint_align = FILL_BOTH
        our_image.file_set("image.png")
        our_image.tooltip_text_set("A picture!")
        our_image.show()

        our_button = FileselectorButton(self)
        our_button.size_hint_weight = EXPAND_HORIZ
        our_button.text = "Select new Image"
        our_button.callback_file_chosen_add(self.file_selected)
        our_button.show()

        our_box = Box(self)
        our_box.size_hint_weight = EXPAND_BOTH
        our_box.pack_end(our_image)
        our_box.pack_end(our_button)
        our_box.show()
        self.resize_object_add(our_box)

    def file_selected(self, fsb, selected_file):
        if selected_file:
            valid_extensions = [".png", ".jpg", ".gif"]
            file_name, file_extension = os.path.splitext(selected_file)
            if file_extension in valid_extensions:
                self.our_image.file_set(selected_file)


if __name__ == "__main__":
    elm.init()
    gui = MainWindow()
    gui.show()
    elm.run()

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

What image formats does Python EFL support?

EFL uses the Evas library, which supports common formats like PNG, JPEG, GIF, SVG, and TIFF. It can also support specialized formats depending on the loader modules installed on your system.

How do I scale an image?

By default, the Image widget will respect the size_hint_weight and size_hint_align of its container. You can use our_image.fill_outside_set(True) or aspect_fixed_set(True) to control how the image scales within its allocated space.

Can I load images from a URL?

While the file_set method is typically used for local files, you can use the requests library to download an image to a temporary file and then load it into the widget.

Key Takeaways

The Image widget is the primary way to handle graphics in EFL.
FileselectorButton simplifies user-driven file interactions.
Always validate file extensions before attempting to load a new image into the UI.

Written by

Abdur-Rahmaan Janhangeer

Chef

Python author of 9+ years having worked for Python companies around the world