PictureSort

This is a Python script that sorts the pixels in an image. It implements Quicksort as its sorting algorithm. I wrote it as part of my algorithm class in university. The program requires a recent version of Python 3.

Getting started

1. Create a new environment using venv:

   python -m venv venv

2. Activate the environment:
   Linux:

   source venv/bin/activate

   Windows (PowerShell)

   .\venv\Scripts\activate.ps1

3. Install requirements:

   pip install -r requirements.txt

Usage

To use this script, you have to provide it with a source and destination filename:

python main.py source_file.jpg destination_file.jpg

By default, the scripts sorts each row of pixels by luminance. The script has been verified to work with JPEG and PNG. For a list of supported file formats, take a look at the Pillow image library wiki. Please note: Sorting a high-resolution image can take a long time, especially sorting it continuously.

Examples

The original image:

Each row sorted by luminance:

Each column sorted by luminance:

The whole image sorted by luminance continuously:

Each row sorted by the red value:

Options

Argument	Values	Default	Explanation
--sort	rows, columns, continuously	rows	Specifies how the image will be sorted. You can sort each row, each column or sort the image continuously.
--sort-by	red, green, blue, luminance	luminance	Specifies which value will be the sorting key.