Release Pillow 12.1.1 on February 11, 2026 #9429

Point release

Released as needed for security, installation or critical bug fixes.

• Make necessary changes in main branch.
• Check out release branch e.g.:

  git checkout -t remotes/origin/12.1.x

• Cherry pick individual commits from main branch to release branch e.g. 12.1.x, then git push.
• Check GitHub Actions to confirm passing tests in release branch e.g. 12.1.x.
• In compliance with PEP 440, update version identifier in src/PIL/_version.py
• Run pre-release check via make release-test.
• Create tag for release e.g.:

  git tag 12.1.1
  git push --tags

• Create and check source distribution:

  make sdist

• Check the GitHub Actions "Wheels" workflow
  has passed, including the "Upload release to PyPI" job. This will have been triggered
  by the new tag.
• Publish the release on GitHub and then:

  git push

Publicize release

• Announce release availability via Mastodon e.g. https://fosstodon.org/@pillow/110639450470725321

Documentation

• Make sure the default version for Read the Docs is up-to-date with the release changes

Docker images

• Update Pillow in the Docker Images repository

  git clone https://github.com/python-pillow/docker-images
  cd docker-images
  ./update-pillow-tag.sh 12.1.1