OpenSlide is a C library that provides a simple interface to read whole-slide images also known as virtual slides.

Whole-slide images, also known as virtual slides, are large, high resolution images used in digital pathology. Reading these images using standard image tools or libraries is a challenge because these tools are typically designed for images that can comfortably be uncompressed into RAM or a swap file. Whole-slide images routinely exceed RAM sizes, often occupying tens of gigabytes when uncompressed. Additionally, whole-slide images are typically multi-resolution, and only a small amount of image data might be needed at a particular resolution.

This library currently supports:
- Aperio (.svs, .tif)
- Hamamatsu (.vms, .vmu, .ndpi)
- Leica (.scn)
- MIRAX (.mrxs)
- Sakura (.svslide)
- Trestle (.tif)
- Generic tiled TIFF (.tif)
This package contains the Python 2 module needed to run OpenSlide applications.