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cristy3ed852e2009-09-05 21:47:34 +00001Introduction to ImageMagick
2
cristye68f5992015-03-03 17:44:51 +00003 ImageMagick® is a software suite to create, edit, compose, or convert
4 bitmap images. It can read and write images in a variety of formats (over
5 200) including PNG, JPEG, JPEG-2000, GIF, TIFF, DPX, EXR, WebP, Postscript,
cristy4fa14332015-06-06 18:23:08 +00006 PDF, and SVG. Use ImageMagick to resize, flip, mirror, rotate, distort,
cristye68f5992015-03-03 17:44:51 +00007 shear and transform images, adjust image colors, apply various special
8 effects, or draw text, lines, polygons, ellipses and Bézier curves.
cristya1410932010-11-06 18:16:16 +00009
cristyc1c61662009-09-30 14:04:37 +000010 The functionality of ImageMagick is typically utilized from the command
11 line or you can use the features from programs written in your favorite
cristy4fa14332015-06-06 18:23:08 +000012 language. Choose from these interfaces: G2F (Ada), MagickCore (C),
13 MagickWand (C), ChMagick (Ch), ImageMagickObject (COM+), Magick++ (C++),
14 JMagick (Java), L-Magick (Lisp), Lua, NMagick (Neko/haXe), Magick.NET
cristyc1c61662009-09-30 14:04:37 +000015 (.NET), PascalMagick (Pascal), PerlMagick (Perl), MagickWand for PHP
16 (PHP), IMagick (PHP), PythonMagick (Python), RMagick (Ruby), or TclMagick
17 (Tcl/TK). With a language interface, use ImageMagick to modify or create
18 images dynamically and automagically.
cristyed8d54c2015-05-25 13:48:40 +000019
dirkb8dc6242015-06-06 11:09:29 +000020 ImageMagick utilizes multiple computational threads to increase performance
cristyed8d54c2015-05-25 13:48:40 +000021 and can read, process, or write mega-, giga-, or tera-pixel image sizes.
cristya1410932010-11-06 18:16:16 +000022
cristyc1c61662009-09-30 14:04:37 +000023 ImageMagick is free software delivered as a ready-to-run binary distribution
cristy4fa14332015-06-06 18:23:08 +000024 or as source code that you may use, copy, modify, and distribute in both open
25 and proprietary applications. It is distributed under the Apache 2.0 license.
cristya1410932010-11-06 18:16:16 +000026
cristy1bd5c4d2010-06-11 13:55:20 +000027 The ImageMagick development process ensures a stable API and ABI. Before
28 each ImageMagick release, we perform a comprehensive security assessment
cristy4fa14332015-06-06 18:23:08 +000029 that includes memory error and thread data race detection to prevent
30 security vulnerabilities.
cristyc1c61662009-09-30 14:04:37 +000031
Cristy916b65e2015-08-24 17:17:00 -040032 ImageMagick is available from
33 http://www.imagemagick.org/scripts/binary-releases.php. It runs on Linux,
34 Windows, Mac Os X, iOS, Android OS, and others.
cristye68f5992015-03-03 17:44:51 +000035
cristy4fa14332015-06-06 18:23:08 +000036 The authoritative ImageMagick web site is
37 http://www.imagemagick.org. The authoritative source code repository is
dirk398f3862015-08-09 13:03:21 +020038 http://git.imagemagick.org/repos/ImageMagick/.
cristye68f5992015-03-03 17:44:51 +000039
40
cristy3ed852e2009-09-05 21:47:34 +000041Features and Capabilities
cristya1410932010-11-06 18:16:16 +000042
cristyc1c61662009-09-30 14:04:37 +000043 Here are just a few examples of what ImageMagick can do:
cristya1410932010-11-06 18:16:16 +000044
45 * Format conversion: convert an image from one format to another (e.g.
46 PNG to JPEG).
cristya06a5a82015-06-08 22:43:28 +000047 * Transform: resize, rotate, deskew, crop, flip or trim an image.
cristya1410932010-11-06 18:16:16 +000048 * Transparency: render portions of an image invisible.
49 * Draw: add shapes or text to an image.
50 * Decorate: add a border or frame to an image.
51 * Special effects: blur, sharpen, threshold, or tint an image.
52 * Animation: create a GIF animation sequence from a group of images.
53 * Text & comments: insert descriptive or artistic text in an image.
54 * Image identification: describe the format and attributes of an image.
55 * Composite: overlap one image over another.
56 * Montage: juxtapose image thumbnails on an image canvas.
57 * Generalized pixel distortion: correct for, or induce image distortions
58 including perspective.
cristy698968d2014-04-11 16:39:25 +000059 * Computer vision: Canny edge detection.
cristya1410932010-11-06 18:16:16 +000060 * Morphology of shapes: extract features, describe shapes and recognize
61 patterns in images.
62 * Motion picture support: read and write the common image formats used in
63 digital film work.
64 * Image calculator: apply a mathematical expression to an image or image
65 channels.
cristy4bc91a12014-12-27 01:45:49 +000066 * Connected component labeling: uniquely label connected regions in an
67 image.
cristya1410932010-11-06 18:16:16 +000068 * Discrete Fourier transform: implements the forward and inverse DFT.
cristydf6cf212014-01-29 18:06:41 +000069 * Perceptual hash: maps visually identical images to the same or similar
cristyeab3d612014-01-29 18:09:51 +000070 hash-- useful in image retrieval, authentication, indexing, or copy
71 detection as well as digital watermarking.
cristy48002432014-01-29 15:31:47 +000072 * Color management: accurate color management with color profiles or in
73 lieu of-- built-in gamma compression or expansion as demanded by the
74 colorspace.
cristya1410932010-11-06 18:16:16 +000075 * High dynamic-range images: accurately represent the wide range of
76 intensity levels found in real scenes ranging from the brightest direct
77 sunlight to the deepest darkest shadows.
78 * Encipher or decipher an image: convert ordinary images into
79 unintelligible gibberish and back again.
80 * Virtual pixel support: convenient access to pixels outside the image
81 region.
82 * Large image support: read, process, or write mega-, giga-, or
83 tera-pixel image sizes.
84 * Threads of execution support: ImageMagick is thread safe and most
85 internal algorithms are OpenMP-enabled to take advantage of speed-ups
86 offered by multicore processor chips.
cristy37aa5592013-01-27 22:59:34 +000087 * Distributed pixel cache: offload intermediate pixel storage to one or
88 more remote servers.
cristya1410932010-11-06 18:16:16 +000089 * Heterogeneous distributed processing: certain algorithms are
90 OpenCL-enabled to take advantage of speed-ups offered by executing in
91 concert across heterogeneous platforms consisting of CPUs, GPUs, and
92 other processors.
93 * ImageMagick on the iPhone: convert, edit, or compose images on your
cristy4fa14332015-06-06 18:23:08 +000094 iPhone or iPad.
cristya1410932010-11-06 18:16:16 +000095
cristy4fa14332015-06-06 18:23:08 +000096 Examples of ImageMagick Usage shows how to use ImageMagick from the
97 command-line to accomplish any of these tasks and much more. Also,
98 see Fred's ImageMagick Scripts: a plethora of command-line scripts that
99 perform geometric transforms, blurs, sharpens, edging, noise removal,
100 and color manipulations. With Magick.NET, use ImageMagick without having
101 to install ImageMagick on your server or desktop.
cristy4bc91a12014-12-27 01:45:49 +0000102