You can use the NSImage property TIFFRepresentation to convert your NSImage to NSData:
let imageData = yourImage.TIFFRepresentation
If you need to save your image data to a PNG file you can use NSBitmapImageRep(data:) and representationUsingType to create an extension to help you convert Data to PNG format:
Update: Xcode 11 • Swift 5.1
extension NSBitmapImageRep {
var png: Data? { representation(using: .png, properties: [:]) }
}
extension Data {
var bitmap: NSBitmapImageRep? { NSBitmapImageRep(data: self) }
}
extension NSImage {
var png: Data? { tiffRepresentation?.bitmap?.png }
}
usage
let picture = NSImage(contentsOf: URL(string: "https://i.stack.imgur.com/Xs4RX.jpg")!)!
let imageURL = FileManager.default.urls(for: .desktopDirectory, in: .userDomainMask).first!.appendingPathComponent("image.png")
if let png = picture.png {
do {
try png.write(to: imageURL)
print("PNG image saved")
} catch {
print(error)
}
}