Where do I download the python PIL module from? I found some sites but not sure if they can be trusted.
This is for my macbookpro.
Is effbot the source?
effbot.org is the website of PIL's author and maintainer, Fredrik Lundh, so http://effbot.org/downloads/ can be considered an authoritative source. There have been a number of forks of earlier versions, and unfortunately, the Python Package Index (normally reliable) entry for PIL is a bit out of date.
Installing PIL on OS X can be problematic because it requires 3rd-party C libraries, like libjpeg, that are not shipped with OS X. While you can fairly easily install those libraries with the popular open-source package distributors, like MacPorts, Homebrew, or Fink, it is often difficult to get all the options correct to match the Python in use. For that reason, I recommend using a complete solution, that is 3rd-party libs, PIL, and Python 2.6 all built and installed using the same distribution package manager. While there may be some first time gotchas, it will usually save a lot of headaches over time. For instance, using MacPorts, one command will install everything:
$ sudo port install py26-pil
But check other postings for possible gotchas and variants to use for MacPorts.