Install method1 - preferred method --------------- Using the same install method of install as cairo - GNU autotools. $ python -c "import sys; print sys.prefix" # make a note of the python prefix $ ./configure --prefix= $ make $ make install # may require superuser access To build from CVS, use this line instead of the configure line above: $ ./autogen.sh --prefix= If you're installing to another prefix than the one where Python is installed Python will not be able to find the cairo module until you add $prefix/lib/pythonX.Y/site-packages to the PYTHONPATH variable. Install method2 - alternative install method --------------- 1. Untar the .tar.gz file 2. cd into the resulting directory 3. python setup.py install