Installation & Setup:

To get started with scikit-image, follow these steps:

1. Install Python

Ensure you have Python installed. You can download the latest version from Python’s official website and follow the installation instructions for your operating system.

To verify the installation, run:

python --version

2. Create a Virtual Environment (Optional but Recommended)

Using a virtual environment helps manage dependencies effectively.

On macOS/Linux:

python -m venv scikit_env
source scikit_env/bin/activate

On Windows:

python -m venv scikit_env
scikit_env\Scripts\activate

3. Install `scikit-image`

Use pip to install scikit-image:

pip install scikit-image

You may also need to install dependencies like numpy, matplotlib, and scipy:

pip install numpy matplotlib scipy

4. Verify Installation

After installation, open a Python shell and run:

import skimage
print(skimage.__version__)

If no errors appear and a version number is printed, the installation was successful.

5. Installing Jupyter Notebook (For Interactive Development)

If you want an interactive development environment, install Jupyter Notebook:

pip install notebook

Then, launch it using:

jupyter notebook

6. Running Your First `scikit-image` Program

Create a Python script or Jupyter Notebook and test loading an image:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
from skimage import io

image = io.imread('https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/89/Portrait_Placeholder.png')
plt.imshow(image)
plt.axis('off')
plt.show()

If an image is displayed without errors, your setup is complete!