Creates a poster of Esquire magazine covers for a given decade.

esquire.py

"""Creates a poster of Esquire magazine covers for a given decade.
The covers for a given decade can be downloaded with something like
the following curl command:

    curl -O http://www.esquire.com/cm/esquire/cover-images/196[0-9]_[1-12].jpg
"""

import os, sys
import Image

# What size is each cover image supposed to be?
cover_width = 382
cover_height = 514
expected_size = (cover_width, cover_height)

# Determine the size of the final image based on the size of the
# individual covers.
final_width = cover_width * 12
final_height = cover_height * 10

# Where are the covers located?
cover_path = 'covers/%(year)d_%(month)d.jpg'

def combinecovers(decade):
    """Creates a giant image containing all of the covers for the
    given decade, with one row of covers per year and one column per
    month.  Assumes the covers are in the current directory."""

    # Create the output image.
    output_image = Image.new('RGB', (final_width, final_height), 'black')

    # Iterate through the years of the decade and the months of the
    # year.
    for year in range(decade, decade + 10):
        for month in range(1, 13):

            # Figure out the path to this month's cover image.
            path = cover_path % dict(year=year, month=month)

            # Make sure the path exists.
            if os.path.exists(path):
                # Open this month's cover image.
                cover = Image.open(path)

                # Calculate the offset at which to place this month's
                # cover in the larger final image.
                offset = [cover_width * (month - 1),
                          cover_height * (year - decade)]

                # Make sure the image is the right size
                if cover.size != expected_size:
                    w, h = cover.size

                    # The image is proportionally the right size, but
                    # is simply too large.
                    if h > w:
                        new_size = expected_size

                    # The image is at a different proportion, so
                    # resize it to the expected size, maintaining its
                    # aspect ratio.
                    else:
                        ratio = min(float(cover_width)/float(w),
                                    float(cover_height)/float(h))
                        new_size = (int(w * ratio), int(h * ratio))

                        # Update the offset to center the oddly-sized
                        # image in its assigned space
                        if new_size[0] > new_size[1]:
                            offset[1] += new_size[1] / 2
                        else:
                            offset[0] += new_size[0] / 2

                    # Resize the cover to fit
                    cover = cover.resize(new_size, Image.ANTIALIAS)

                # Place this month's cover in the larger image.
                output_image.paste(cover, tuple(offset))

    # Write the larger image to disk.
    output_image.save('covers_%ds.jpg' % decade)

if __name__ == '__main__':
    try:
        decade = int(sys.argv[1])
        combinecovers(decade)
    except IndexError:
        print 'Usage: %s DECADE' % __file__