python - tkinter PhotoImage doesn't exist?

Question

from tkinter import *

root = Tk()

photo = PhotoImage(file='blueface.png')
label = Label(root, image=photo)
label.pack()

root.mainloop()

The image face.png is in the same directory as this .py script, but when I run it, I get the following error:

 line 5, in <module>
    photo = PhotoImage(file='blueface.png')
 line 3539, in __init__
    Image.__init__(self, 'photo', name, cnf, master, **kw)
 line 3495, in __init__
    self.tk.call(('image', 'create', imgtype, name,) + options)
_tkinter.TclError: couldn't open "face.png": no such file or directory

Answer 1

It doesn't matter very much that the image is in the same folder as the script, when you call the file like that without a path python assumes it's in the same folder that you were working on when you started the script. For example, if both the script and the image are in temp folder, and you started your script like this:

python temp/script.py

The interpreter doesn't realize that blueface.png is also in temp and looks for it in the folder that you were in, in this case the parent of temp

What you should do, is either use absolute paths, or use the __file__ to get the full script address first. For example:

photo = PhotoImage(file='/absolute/path/to/image/blueface.png')

Or using the current script's location to build the image's path:

import os
base_folder = os.path.dirname(__file__)
image_path = os.path.join(base_folder, 'blueface.png')
photo = PhotoImage(file=image_path)

Answer 2

Older versions of tkinter can not handle .png's that well. Try making the file a .gif. Or use the PhotoImage from PIL:

import tkinter as tk
from PIL import Image, ImageTk

root = tk.Tk()

photo = ImageTk.PhotoImage(Image.open('blueface.png'))
label = tk.Label(root, image=photo)
label.pack()

root.mainloop()