diff --git a/doc/source/user_guide/transforming_image_data.rst b/doc/source/user_guide/transforming_image_data.rst
index 883cda41..741cb229 100644
--- a/doc/source/user_guide/transforming_image_data.rst
+++ b/doc/source/user_guide/transforming_image_data.rst
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ green and blue channels. However, other color models are widely used,
 such as the `HSV color model
 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HSL_and_HSV>`_, where hue, saturation and
 value are independent channels, or the `CMYK model
-<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CMYK_color_model>`_ used for printing. 
+<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CMYK_color_model>`_ used for printing.
 
 :mod:`skimage.color` provides utility functions to convert images
 to and from different color spaces. Integer-type arrays can be
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ Conversion from RGBA to RGB - Removing alpha channel through alpha blending
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
 Converting an RGBA image to an RGB image by alpha blending it with a
-background is realized with :func:`rgba2rgb` :: 
+background is realized with :func:`rgba2rgb` ::
 
     >>> from skimage.color import rgba2rgb
     >>> from skimage import data
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ Conversion between color and gray values
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
 Converting an RGB image to a grayscale image is realized with
-:func:`rgb2gray` :: 
+:func:`rgb2gray` ::
 
     >>> from skimage.color import rgb2gray
     >>> from skimage import data
@@ -81,12 +81,25 @@ from RGB to grayscale::
 Converting a grayscale image to RGB with :func:`gray2rgb` simply
 duplicates the gray values over the three color channels.
 
+Image inversion
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+An inverted image is also called complementary image. For binary images, True values
+become False and conversely. For grayscale images, pixel values are replaced by the
+difference of the maximum value of the data type and the actual value. For RGB
+images, the same operation is done for each channel. This operation can be achieved
+with :py:func:`skimage.util.invert`::
+
+    >>> from skimage import util
+    >>> img = data.camera()
+    >>> inverted_img = util.invert(img)
+
 Painting images with labels
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
 :func:`label2rgb` can be used to superimpose colors on a grayscale image
 using an array of labels to encode the regions to be represented with the
-same color. 
+same color.
 
 
 .. image:: ../auto_examples/segmentation/images/sphx_glr_plot_join_segmentations_001.png
@@ -139,7 +152,7 @@ the boundaries of the bins.
 The simplest contrast enhancement :func:`rescale_intensity` consists in
 stretching pixel values to the whole allowed range, using a linear
 transformation::
-    
+
     >>> from skimage import exposure
     >>> text = data.text()
     >>> text.min(), text.max()
diff --git a/skimage/util/__init__.py b/skimage/util/__init__.py
index 2500469b..b64836f1 100644
--- a/skimage/util/__init__.py
+++ b/skimage/util/__init__.py
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ from .apply_parallel import apply_parallel
 from .arraypad import pad, crop
 from ._regular_grid import regular_grid
 from .unique import unique_rows
+from ._invert import invert
 
 
 __all__ = ['img_as_float',
@@ -22,4 +23,5 @@ __all__ = ['img_as_float',
            'random_noise',
            'regular_grid',
            'apply_parallel',
+           'invert',
            'unique_rows']
diff --git a/skimage/util/_invert.py b/skimage/util/_invert.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..f59bef29
--- /dev/null
+++ b/skimage/util/_invert.py
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+import numpy as np
+from .dtype import dtype_limits
+
+
+def invert(image):
+    """Invert an image.
+
+    Substract the image to the maximum value allowed by the dtype maximum.
+
+    Parameters
+    ----------
+    image : ndarray
+        The input image.
+
+    Returns
+    -------
+    invert : ndarray
+        Inverted image.
+
+    Examples
+    --------
+    >>> img = np.array([[100, 0, 200],
+    ...                 [0,  50, 0],
+    ...                 [30,  0, 255]], np.uint8)
+    >>> invert(img)
+    array([[155, 255,  55],
+           [255, 205, 255],
+           [225, 255,   0]], dtype=uint8)
+    """
+    if image.dtype == 'bool':
+        return ~image
+    else:
+        return dtype_limits(image)[1] - image
diff --git a/skimage/util/tests/test_invert.py b/skimage/util/tests/test_invert.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..5890d685
--- /dev/null
+++ b/skimage/util/tests/test_invert.py
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+import numpy as np
+from numpy.testing import assert_array_equal
+from skimage import dtype_limits
+from skimage.util import invert
+
+
+def test_invert_bool():
+    dtype = 'bool'
+    image = np.zeros((3, 3), dtype=dtype)
+    image[1, :] = dtype_limits(image)[1]
+    expected = np.zeros((3, 3), dtype=dtype) + dtype_limits(image)[1]
+    expected[1, :] = 0
+    result = invert(image)
+    assert_array_equal(expected, result)
+
+
+def test_invert_uint8():
+    dtype = 'uint8'
+    image = np.zeros((3, 3), dtype=dtype)
+    image[1, :] = dtype_limits(image)[1]
+    expected = np.zeros((3, 3), dtype=dtype) + dtype_limits(image)[1]
+    expected[1, :] = 0
+    result = invert(image)
+    assert_array_equal(expected, result)
+
+
+def test_invert_int8():
+    dtype = 'int8'
+    image = np.zeros((3, 3), dtype=dtype)
+    image[1, :] = dtype_limits(image)[1]
+    expected = np.zeros((3, 3), dtype=dtype) + dtype_limits(image)[1]
+    expected[1, :] = 0
+    result = invert(image)
+    assert_array_equal(expected, result)
+
+
+def test_invert_float64():
+    dtype = 'float64'
+    image = np.zeros((3, 3), dtype=dtype)
+    image[1, :] = dtype_limits(image)[1]
+    expected = np.zeros((3, 3), dtype=dtype) + dtype_limits(image)[1]
+    expected[1, :] = 0
+    result = invert(image)
+    assert_array_equal(expected, result)
+
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+    np.testing.run_module_suite()