Using python PIL to turn a RGB image into a pure black and white image

from PIL import Image 
image_file = Image.open("convert_image.png") # open colour image
image_file = image_file.convert('1') # convert image to black and white
image_file.save('result.png')

yields

A PIL only solution for creating a bi-level (black and white) image with a custom threshold:

from PIL import Image
img = Image.open('mB96s.png')
thresh = 200
fn = lambda x : 255 if x > thresh else 0
r = img.convert('L').point(fn, mode='1')
r.save('foo.png')

With just

r = img.convert('1')
r.save('foo.png')

you get a dithered image.

From left to right the input image, the black and white conversion result and the dithered result:

You can click on the images to view the unscaled versions.

Another option (which is useful e.g. for scientific purposes when you need to work with segmentation masks) is simply apply a threshold:

#!/usr/bin/env python
# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-

"""Binarize (make it black and white) an image with Python."""

from PIL import Image
from scipy.misc import imsave
import numpy


def binarize_image(img_path, target_path, threshold):
    """Binarize an image."""
    image_file = Image.open(img_path)
    image = image_file.convert('L')  # convert image to monochrome
    image = numpy.array(image)
    image = binarize_array(image, threshold)
    imsave(target_path, image)


def binarize_array(numpy_array, threshold=200):
    """Binarize a numpy array."""
    for i in range(len(numpy_array)):
        for j in range(len(numpy_array[0])):
            if numpy_array[i][j] > threshold:
                numpy_array[i][j] = 255
            else:
                numpy_array[i][j] = 0
    return numpy_array


def get_parser():
    """Get parser object for script xy.py."""
    from argparse import ArgumentParser, ArgumentDefaultsHelpFormatter
    parser = ArgumentParser(description=__doc__,
                            formatter_class=ArgumentDefaultsHelpFormatter)
    parser.add_argument("-i", "--input",
                        dest="input",
                        help="read this file",
                        metavar="FILE",
                        required=True)
    parser.add_argument("-o", "--output",
                        dest="output",
                        help="write binarized file hre",
                        metavar="FILE",
                        required=True)
    parser.add_argument("--threshold",
                        dest="threshold",
                        default=200,
                        type=int,
                        help="Threshold when to show white")
    return parser


if __name__ == "__main__":
    args = get_parser().parse_args()
    binarize_image(args.input, args.output, args.threshold)

It looks like this for ./binarize.py -i convert_image.png -o result_bin.png --threshold 200: