---
title: "What is an image column?"
description: "An image column stores a still picture as a first-class value a schema can caption, embed, or transform."
url: "https://pixeltable.com/learn/what-is-an-image-column"
updated: "2026-09-29"
vertical: "Multimodal data"
doc: "https://docs.pixeltable.com/platform/type-system"
---

# What is an image column?

An image column stores a still picture as a first-class value a schema can caption, embed, or transform.

Updated: 2026-09-29
Part of [What is a typed media column?](https://pixeltable.com/learn/what-is-a-typed-media-column).

## On this page

- [How it works](https://pixeltable.com/learn/what-is-an-image-column#how-it-works)
- [What it is not](https://pixeltable.com/learn/what-is-an-image-column#what-it-is-not)
- [Comparison](https://pixeltable.com/learn/what-is-an-image-column#comparison)
- [Where Pixeltable fits](https://pixeltable.com/learn/what-is-an-image-column#where-pixeltable-fits)
- [Questions](https://pixeltable.com/learn/what-is-an-image-column#questions)

## How it works {#how-it-works}


- The row keeps the picture with its title, label, or product id.
- A computed column can caption or edit that picture when the row changes.
- An embedding index on the picture answers visual similarity.

## What it is not {#what-it-is-not}

It is not a filename, and it is not a numeric array with no catalog row.

## image column: this, and the thing it is confused with {#comparison}

|  | This | Not this |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Stored | A still the schema understands | A path in a string |
| Typical next column | Caption, embedding, or edit | A one-off script |
| Search | By similar picture or phrase | By filename |

## Where Pixeltable fits {#where-pixeltable-fits}

Pixeltable declares that column as image: pxt.Image, then assigns caption or embedding columns on the same class.

## Questions {#questions}

### How does image column work? {#faq-1}

The row keeps the picture with its title, label, or product id. A computed column can caption or edit that picture when the row changes. An embedding index on the picture answers visual similarity.

### What is image column often confused with? {#faq-2}

It is not a filename, and it is not a numeric array with no catalog row.

## In the blog

- [Claude 3.5 Sonnet Vision: Building Multimodal AI Applications with Anthropic's Claude and Pixeltable](https://pixeltable.com/blog/claude-anthropic-multimodal-integration-pixeltable)
- [Beyond Pandas: Why Pixeltable Is the Ultimate Tool for Multimodal Data Wrangling](https://pixeltable.com/blog/pixeltable-vs-pandas-multimodal-data-wrangling)
- [Creative Image Generation with Pixeltable's Reve Integration](https://pixeltable.com/blog/reve-image-generation-pixeltable)
- [Your First Pixeltable Project: Build a Smart Image Organizer in 10 Minutes](https://pixeltable.com/blog/your-first-pixeltable-project)

## Related

- [Documentation](https://docs.pixeltable.com/platform/type-system)
- [Your First Pixeltable Project: Build a Smart Image Organizer in 10 Minutes](https://pixeltable.com/blog/your-first-pixeltable-project)
- [SnapCatalog: Shop-the-Look Search Without a Tagging Farm](https://pixeltable.com/blog/snapcatalog-product-visual-search)
- [Computer vision pipeline](https://pixeltable.com/use-cases/computer-vision-pipeline-optimization)
- [image-to-text](https://pixeltable.com/tools/image-to-text)
- [background-remover](https://pixeltable.com/background-remover)