---
id: color-matcher
version: "0.6.0"
license: GNU GPL V3.0
license_treatment: copyleft
maintenance: active
---

# color-matcher — Package enabling color transfer across images

License: copyleft · Maintenance: active · Downloads: 430.1K/mo

## What it is and what it does

color-matcher is a Python library for transferring color characteristics from one image to another. It implements multiple color-matching algorithms—Reinhard's method, Monge-Kantorovich Linearization (MKL), and a Multi-Variate Gaussian Distribution (MVGD) transfer combined with histogram matching—to automatically recolor images while preserving their structure and detail. The library is designed for photography color grading, film sequence correction, light-field processing, and stop-motion work.

The package depends on numpy for numerical operations, matplotlib for visualization, imageio for image I/O, and several utility libraries (ddt, docutils, packaging). It requires Python 3 or later and installs as a pure Python wheel with low friction. The codebase is actively maintained and has accumulated 663 stars on GitHub, indicating reasonable adoption in the image-processing community.

Use it for:

- Automatic color grading of photograph batches to match a reference image's color palette.
- Correcting color casts in film sequences or video frames for consistent look across shots.
- Light-field image processing where color consistency across viewpoints is needed.
- Stop-motion animation color correction to match lighting and color tone across frames.
- Recoloring paintings or artwork to match a target aesthetic or historical reference.

## Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts above — verify before relying.

color-matcher transfers color characteristics from one image to another using histogram matching and Gaussian distribution methods, enabling automatic color grading for photographs, paintings, and film sequences.

Yes, if you need color transfer between images and accept the GPL V3.0 copyleft requirement. The package is actively maintained, has low install friction, carries no known vulnerabilities, and offers multiple established algorithms. Not suitable for proprietary or closed-source projects without relicensing.

## Install

pip install color-matcher
uv add color-matcher
poetry add color-matcher

## Installing color-matcher

Before you install: Low install friction with a pure Python wheel. Actively maintained as of February 2026 with 663 repository stars and regular releases since 2020.

License in practice: Licensed under GNU GPL V3.0 (copyleft). Any derivative work or distribution must also be released under GPL V3.0; proprietary or closed-source applications cannot use this package without relicensing.

Quickstart:

pip install color-matcher

import color_matcher
from imageio import imread

reference = imread('reference.jpg')
image = imread('image.jpg')
matched = color_matcher.ColorMatcher().transfer(image, reference)

Requires imageio and numpy for image I/O and array operations; matplotlib is a runtime dependency for visualization.

Verify before relying:

- Whether the package supports batch processing of multiple images or film sequences in a single call.
- Performance characteristics (processing time) for typical image sizes or video frame counts.
- Whether the Reinhard, MKL, and MVGD-HM methods are exposed as separate, selectable transfer modes or only as a compound.

## Package facts

- License: GNU GPL V3.0 (copyleft)
- Python support: supports_current
- Install friction: low
- Maintenance: active
- Downloads: 430.1K/month (top 15,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

color transfer between images, automatic color grading, histogram color matching, image color correction, film color grading, color normalization images, image-processing, color-grading

[View on SkillFed](https://skillfed.io/packages/color-matcher) · [View on PyPI](https://pypi.org/project/color-matcher/)