Table of contents
1.
Introduction
2.
K-Means Clustering
3.
Implementation
4.
FAQs
5.
Key Takeaways
Last Updated: Mar 27, 2024

Image Compression using K-Means Clustering

Career growth poll
Do you think IIT Guwahati certified course can help you in your career?

Introduction

Image compression is a sort of data compression used to reduce the size of digital photos without compromising the image's quality. More photos can be saved in a given disc or memory space because of the smaller file size. It also cuts down on the time it takes to send or download images from web pages over the Internet.

Smaller image sizes are also better for your hosting subscription. They take up less storage space, allowing you to store more stuff. Furthermore, backing up your website is a considerably faster procedure when your website’s photos are compressed.

To provide exceptional results, this takes advantage of visual perception and image data's statistical features.

Lossy vs. Lossless Image Compression

Lossy image compression is a technique for shrinking image files by removing some data. This is an irreversible process, which means the data in the file will be permanently deleted.

Lossless image compression, unlike lossy compression, does not degrade image quality. Because lossless compression only removes non-essential data added by the device used to take the shot, this is the case.

As the title says, we'll use K-means clustering to quantize the colors in the image, which will aid with compression.

K-Means Clustering

Clustering is an unsupervised learning technique that can investigate data structures. Clustering is the division of data into numerous clusters, each containing one or more identical pieces of information. The clustering algorithm demands the highest similarity between data from the same collection and the slightest resemblance between data from different clusters. The clustering algorithm, unlike classification learning, is an unsupervised learning method. The clustering method doesn't need to identify the sample categories; instead, it splits the data set into many clusters based on sample similarity. As a result, the data clusters are not specified but instead defined by the similarity of the samples' properties. As a result, there is no need to pre-mark the incoming cluster data.

 

It's essentially a search technique for finding 'k' clusters in a set of data points. It selects k-cluster centers at random first, then seeks to minimize the sum of the squared distance of data points from the cluster center within each cluster using some distance metric (for example, Euclidean distance).

This algorithm follows two basic steps:

  • Assignment step: For each data point cluster is decided according to the center of it.
  • Update step: The data points assigned to the new clusters are used to calculate new centroids.         

 

Note: The data point is the RGB form of colors present in the image.

 

source: link    

                                                                                              

Implementation

#importing the libraries required


from skimage import io
from sklearn.cluster import KMeans
import numpy as np
%matplotlib inline


# reading the image


image = io.imread(sample.png')


# preprocessing the data


rows, cols = image.shape[0], image.shape[1]
image = image.reshape(rows * cols, 3)


# modeling it up


kMeans = KMeans(n_clusters = 16)
kMeans.fit(image)


# labeling
labels = np.asarray(kMeans.labels_, dtype = np.uint8)
print(labels.shape)
labels = np.reshape(labels, (rows, cols))
print(labels.shape)
Labels


# reconstructing the image


newImage = np.zeros((rows, cols, 3), dtype = np.uint8)
for i in range(rows):
    for j in range(cols):
            # assinging every pixel the rgb color of their label's center 
            newImage[i, j, :] = centers[labels[i, j], :]
io.imsave(sample-compressed.png', newImage)
You can also try this code with Online Python Compiler
Run Code

FAQs

  1. What is the Effect of the value of k on the image?
    The size of the compressed image decreases as the value of k decreases.
     
  2. How are execution times related to the image?
    As the image size or 'K' rises, the execution time increases. So, to acquire results quickly, you can start with a lower value of 'k.'
     
  3. What are some k-Means Clustering Stopping Criteria?
    1. Convergence. There are no more modifications; the points remain in the same cluster.
    2. The maximum number of iterations that can be performed. The method will be terminated after the maximum number of iterations has been reached. This is done to keep the algorithm's execution time to a minimum.
     
  4. What role does entropy play in clustering validation?
    By employing data class labels as external information, entropy is used as an external validation metric. Entropy measures the cluster's purity about the provided class label. The entropy value is 0 if each collection contains a single class label. The entropy value rises as the objects in a bunch grow more diverse.

 

Key Takeaways

There are several methods for compressing our photos. So, if you're interested in learning more about it, take a look at this.

Recommended Readings:

Live masterclass