ImageMagick v6 Examples
`4/11/22, 10:49 PM
`The Wayback Machine - https://web.archive.org/web/20120327064501/http://www.imagemagick.org:80/Usage/
`
`
`Examples of ImageMagick Usage
`(Version 6)
`
`This web pages presents a set of examples using ImageMagick from the
`command line. However they are also examples of what can be done using the
`ImageMagick Application Programming Interface (API). As such these pages
`should be the first stop for IM users after reading the terse user manuals.
`
`Often the same questions of "How do I..." gets asked, over and over again on
`the network. The examples in these web pages I hope will answer most of the
`common 'how-to' questions that arise.
`
`Download Page, Fedora RPM,
`Linux SRPM, Beta Release
`Discourse Server
`Mirrors of IM Examples...
`
`Germany - Marcus Knappe
`Other related sites...
`Fred's ImageMagick Scripts
`
`RubbleWebs, PHP using IM CLI
` Anthony's Graphics Lab
`MagickWand Examples in C
`
` Basic Techniques
` Canvas Creation
` Creating canvas and background images
` Color Basics and Channels
` Low Level Color Handling
` Color Modifications
` General Color Changes
` Masking and Background Removal
` Alpha Channel, and Transparency handling
` Color Quantization and Dithering
` Reducing the number of colors
` Cutting and Bordering
` Slicing, Dicing, Framing, Trimming
` Resizing or Scaling
` Enlarging and Shrinking Images
` Compositing Images
` Overlaying and Merging Two Images
` Drawing on Images
` Vector graphics, MVG and SVG images
` Simple Image Warping
` Flipping, Rotating, Twisting
` Distorting Images
` Carnival House of Mirrors
` Image Transformations
` Drastic changes to the look of an image
` Image Mapping Effects
` Lens, Glass and Ripple Effects
` Blurring and Sharpening Images
` Blurring, Sharpening and Shadows
` Morphology of Shapes
` Using Pixel Neighbourhoods
` Convolution of Images
` Weighted Averaged Neighbourhoods
` Fourier Transforms
` Modifing Images in the Frequency Domain
` Anti-Aliasing
`
` Main ImageMagick Website
` Practical Examples
` Basic Usage
` Basic command and image handling
` Image File Handling
` Reading and writing images
` Common Image Formats
` Handling GIF, JPEG, and PNG images
` Text to Image Handling
` Converting text into images
` Compound Font Effects
` Font drawing styles and techniques
` Annotating Images
` Labeling and overlaying images
` Thumbnails and Framing
` Small reference images of large photos
` Photo Handling
` Modifying photographs
` Lens Correction
` Correcting Photo Distortions
` Montage, Arrays of Images
` Image Indexes and Arrays
` Layers of Multiple Images
` Combining multiple images together
` Animation Basics
` Creation and study of animations
` Animation Optimizations
` Making GIF animations smaller
` Animation Modifications
` Changing and merging animations
` Video Handling
` Handling real life video images
` Image Comparing
` Comparing two or more images
` Advanced Techniques
` Complex manipulations of images
` Background Examples
`
`https://web.archive.org/web/20120327064501/http://www.imagemagick.org/Usage/
`
`1/7
`
`Lightricks Ltd., EX1004, Page 1 of 7
`
`

`

`4/11/22, 10:49 PM
` Examples of creating random backgrounds
`
`
`
` Repositories Links
` Links to other IM scripts and info.
` Reference Index
` Quick index for specific options.
` Support Scripts
` Shell Scripts used by examples.
`
`ImageMagick v6 Examples
` Anti-aliasing effects and problems
` Miscellaneous
` Miscellaneous Examples
` APIs, Scripting, Building
` Usage in other environments
` Usage under Windows
` IM on Windows PC
` Development and Bugs
` Development Proposals and Bugs, New and Old
`
`Symbols for Added Notes within example pages...
`Older Version Warnings
`Hint, Tip or Extra Info
`For More Advanced Users
`Test Image Storage Directories... Small Images (image display), Photographs (fancy index)
`
`ImageMagick Examples - Introductory Notes
`
`What is ImageMagick? A no holds barred summary
`
`ImageMagick is designed for batch processing of images. That is, allow you to create more complex methods
`and techniques in a script (shell, dos, perl, PHP, etc) so that you can then apply the image processing operations
`to many images, or as part of a sub-system of some other tool, such as a web application, video processing tool,
`panorama generator, and so on. It is not a GUI image editor.
`
`ImageMagick is first of all an image-to-image converter. It was what it was originally designed to do. That is it
`will convert an image in just about any image format (tell us if it can't) to any other image format.
`
`But it is also a library of Image Processing Algorithms. These can be access via the command line, and shell/dos
`scripts, which is what these example pages are specifically about, or via a large number of programming
`languages, such as C, C++, Perl, Ruby, PHP, etc, etc, etc. (see ImageMagick API's)
`
`Speed was however never a major feature, more the quality of its image results. That is not to say that it can't
`transform images in a reasonable time, but it is not blindingly fast. Because of this it can be slow for some
`processing operations, especially in its attempts to compress images into image formats that have limited
`capability.
`
`ImageMagick however concerns itself mainly with images in the form of a 'raster' or "rectangular array of
`pixels". It will handle 'vector' image formats like Postscript and PDF, but at the cost of converting those images
`into a 'raster', and generating a vector image wrapper around a raster image. As a result vector images are often
`processed badly in the default case, but specific options can be used to improve this situation. See, A word about
`Vector Image formats.
`About these Examples of ImageMagick Usage
`
`These pages were developed from and are a continuation of my Collection of ImageMagick Hints and Tips page
`I first started in 1993 (and placed on the new fangled world-wide-web making its appearance around the same
`time). Many aspects of IM and notes not included in these pages are still present in that document. However
`while these pages were designed for you to look at, the hints and tip document was only for my own edification,
`so may be vague or chaotic in places. You are welcome to look at it, learn and make comments on it.
`
`Other examples were grabbed or developed from answers to users on the IM Forums or contributed to me as
`solutions to various problems.
`
`https://web.archive.org/web/20120327064501/http://www.imagemagick.org/Usage/
`
`2/7
`
`Page 2 of 7
`
`

`

`ImageMagick v6 Examples
`4/11/22, 10:49 PM
`I look forward to suggestions, and email from other IM users, with such email generally resulting in
`improvements and expansions to these example pages.
`
`Command Line Environments
`
`All examples are written for use on UNIX, and specifically Linux systems, using BASH scripting. As a
`consequence some examples use a shell 'for-do' loop, and most use a backslash '\' at the end of a line to continue
`the command onto the next line. The longer commands are broken into separate lines to try to further highlight
`the steps being applied in that command.
`
`However you can still use these examples from PC Windows Batch Scripts with some changes to the handling
`of certain characters. PHP Scripts also need to make some slight modifications to examples, to run the
`command directly from PHP 'system' calls.
`
`See Windows Usage and API's and Scripting for more information on using the the ImageMagick commands in
`these alternative environments. Contributions and test examples welcome.
`
`PerlMagick, or other APIs
`
`The examples should also be able to be converted to run from all application interfaces, such as Perl, C, C++,
`Ruby, PHP MagickWand, and so on. I recommend trying things out on the command line first, until you get
`right, then convert the resulting operations to the specific API you are using.
`
`The command line really only deals with a single image sequence at any one time, though this has improved
`enormously with IM version 6. But APIs do not have this problem, allowing you to manipulate multiple image
`sequences separately or together to form more complex scripts.
`
`This ability will also simply the examples and remove the need to save images as temporary files, as many of the
`command line examples require. As such with an API only permanent and semi-permanent images need saved to
`disk.
`
`Basically, let the example pages give you a start, to see just what is possible with ImageMagick, develop just
`what you want to do, before encoding the results in your own scripts and API code, where it is harder to make
`extensive changes.
`
`I also recommend you comment your API code, heavily, adding the command line equivalents to what you are
`trying to do, if possible. This lets you check and compare results using the command line letting you debug
`problems that you may later come across, especially as improvements are made to image processing in the Core
`ImageMagick Library.
`
`Downloading Input Images and Results
`
`As much as possible, I try to use an IM built-in image (such as "logo:", or "rose:") as an input image to IM
`example commands, or generate an input images from IM commands. I also often re-use the output of previous
`commands, in the later examples. This means you usually do not need to download 'test' images to try out the
`examples yourself with your own Imagemagick.
`
`However such generated or built-in images are not always convenient, so when I do use an external image, I
`tend to re-use that input image, or the results of previous examples, over and over, for all the examples of that
`section.
`
`That said, the original input image is often only displayed in cases where the image changes dramatically, or in
`very minor ways by the example command.
`
`https://web.archive.org/web/20120327064501/http://www.imagemagick.org/Usage/
`
`3/7
`
`Page 3 of 7
`
`

`

`ImageMagick v6 Examples
`4/11/22, 10:49 PM
`In any case just about all the IM example commands given are also executed in the same web directory in which
`they appear, to produce the results also shown. That is the command you see is the command that was actually
`used to generate the image.
`
`As the command is executed in the same directory you can edit the pages URL link in your browser to download
`or view the input image(s) used by the command shown. An extra copy of external source images has also been
`placed in the "images" and "img_photos" sub-directories. See also the example of a Fancy Photo Index of those
`images.
`
`If text output or image information is produced by an example, it is saved to a text file, and an image generated
`for direct display on the web page. Selecting the text output image will jump you to a copy of the actual text
`output by the command.
`
`In all these examples, clicking on the image results should let you download the actual output resulting from
`example IM commands. Be warned however that not all browsers will understand all image formats.
`
`External Image Sources
`
`By the way, most of the source images used come from Anthony's Icon Library, especially the background tiles,
`large clip-art, and dragons sections of the library. (I like dragons!)
`
`This library actually predates the WWW. I created it in 1991 due to the lack of good clean iconic images for use
`on the X window system. The advent of the WWW has of course changed this, but my original library still exists
`and remains available as a source of image, though is not actively growing.
`
`Larger and some specific images are often contributed to IM examples, by the author of the example (who is
`listed at the bottom of those contributed sections).
`
`If you are looking for a specific image I recommend using Google Image Search to find something appropriate.
`You can of course convert or resize such images using IM for your own purposes, though I would be careful
`about copyright if you plan to use such images commercially.
`
`PNG Images on Web Pages
`
`In many examples, I use a PNG image format, such as that shown to the right of this
`text. This image format allows you to save image with semi-transparent pixels, a
`feature few other image formats provide. It is also a very well understood image format
`and as such usable by most image programs and web browsers today.
`
`That said, some web browsers however do NOT display transparent "PNG" images
`correctly (most notably Microsoft Internet Explorer v6, though IE v7 does). Because of this I generally prefer to
`use JPEG and GIF image formats, and only use PNG when generating images with semi-transparent pixels, or
`requiring a exact colors for later examples.
`
`To allow IE v6 browsers to display PNG images, I use a special 'style sheet' using a complex java script. For
`information on this, see PNG with transparency for IE, though this is technically not a ImageMagick problem.
`Displaying Images on your Screen
`
`Display problems also occur when displaying images on screen, as such I recommend
`using a command like the following to tile a 'checkerboard' pattern underneath the
`image to highlight any transparent and semi-transparent pixels in the results.
`
` composite -compose Dst_Over -tile pattern:checkerboard image.png x:
`
`https://web.archive.org/web/20120327064501/http://www.imagemagick.org/Usage/
`
`4/7
`
`Page 4 of 7
`
`

`

`ImageMagick v6 Examples
`4/11/22, 10:49 PM
`The source image used in the results above is a special PNG format test image, which was generated using the
`"generate_test" shell script. Normally the command would output the results to your display, and not onto the
`not in a web page like this.
`
`If you look carefully you can see the checkerboard pattern though the semi-transparent colors of the resulting
`image. However the actual image displayed is fully opaque, so should work on all displays, web browsers, and
`image viewers.
`
`As of IM v6.0.2, the "display" program performs something like this automatically, though does not seem to
`handle images using color tables (GIF) in this way. Also see Show Output Display for another way of displaying
`results directly on the screen without saving them.
`
`Font Usage
`
`The fonts I use in these examples are from a small collection true type fonts I have found over the years, and
`saved for my own use. Some of these are copyright, so I cannot publish them online.
`
`You are however welcome to substitute other fonts that you have available, as the examples should work (with
`some image size changes) with any appropriate font you have available on your system, such as the Microsoft
`"Arial" font, or even "Times-BoldItalic", one of which should work on most systems.
`
`To see what fonts are currently available on your version of IM, run the following command...
`
` convert -list type # for IM older than v6.3.5-7
` convert -list font # for newer versions
`
`WARNING: If the font requested is not found, ImageMagick will silently substitute a default font, which is
`usually very plain looking (Arial or Times). So test the font before hand, to make sure that it is the one you want,
`and not the default.
`
`On my Linux system, I use a special Perl script "imagick_type_gen" to generate a "type.xml" font listing file, and
`is saved in the ".magick" sub-directory of your home. This script locates (run "updatedb' first if you just added
`new fonts), and describes all the fonts I have available on my system. This means I only need to specify the
`name of the font I want to use and not the full path to a specific font file.
`
`This lets me...
`
` # Instead of using the command...
` convert -font $HOME/lib/font/truetype/favorite/candice.ttf \
` -pointsize 72 label:Anthony anthony.gif
`
` # I can use the simpler font label...
` convert -font Candice -pointsize 72 label:Anthony anthony.gif
`
`Before IM v6.1.2-3, the "type.xml" file was named "type.mgk". If you are using a earlier version of IM please note
`this change.
`
`The fonts used in these examples are listed in a Montage of Example Fonts Example. My personal favoriate is
`Candice, so it gets used quite a bit.
`
`If you also like the 'Candice' font, or any of the other fonts I use, grab it from Free Fonts or 1001 Fonts .com.
`Example Page Updates
`
`https://web.archive.org/web/20120327064501/http://www.imagemagick.org/Usage/
`
`5/7
`
`Page 5 of 7
`
`

`

`ImageMagick v6 Examples
`4/11/22, 10:49 PM
`These example pages are in an on going cycle of improvement. Generally I find I stop adding to pages for long
`periods of time when my interests become focused on other things.
`
`Also all examples are re-built using the latest beta release for IM, allowing me to see changes and bugs that may
`appear in each version of IM before it is generally released. However the example images shown is what the
`given IM command produces on my system. If you get something different your IM is probably a much older
`version, with old bugs, or your IM is incorrectly installed.
`
`Note that emailing me, or discussing some aspect of ImageMagick on the IM Mailing List, or IM User Forum
`will generally result in whole sections being added or new examples to existing sections created. The more
`discussion, the better the examples become.
`
`If you are doing anything interesting with IM, please share, and allow me provide examples of your technique to
`the rest of the IM community. Some of the biggest advances in IM usage have come from users just like you.
`
`Special Thanks
`
`A special thinks goes to Cristy, who has tirelessly spent months, upgrading, bug fixing, and putting up with my
`off the wall suggestions. Especially with regards to my major suggestions for the command line processing,
`parenthesis, image sequence operators, and GIF animation processing.
`
`He has done a marvelous job to make version 6 the best and most advanced command line image processing
`program available, and while most users will not show that appreciation, I certainly do appreciate the effort he
`has put into IM.
`
`I also like to thank Gabe Schaffer, who has been most helpful in discussions involving, the JPEG format and
`library, affine matrix operators, and the Magick Vector Graphics in general.
`
`And to Glenn Randers-Pehrson, who looks after the PNG coder module, and seems to like to be involved with
`Color Quantization and Dithering. He was the first to add 'halftone' dithering to IM, before I revised the whole
`section in the IM Core, and later added new dithers to the ordered dither configuration file.
`
`And finally I want to thank the huge number of people with problems, suggestions, and solutions, who generally
`lurk on the IM Mailing List, or IM User Forum. Many now have their names as contributors of ideas or
`suggestions throughout IM Examples.
`
`I also like to thank the people who regularly answer questions on the forums, such as 'Bonzo' and his web site
`RubbleWebs, detailing using IM command line from PHP scripts. Also 'scri8e' and his web site Moons Stars for
`glitter and star handling. Of course I also like to thank Pete 'el_supremo' (see his MagickWand C-Programming),
`and the many others who regularly answer other peoples questions.
`
`A special thanks goes to Fred Weinhaus a researcher from the early days of image processing who was a major
`help in the initial implementation of General Image Distortion Operator. You can see Fred's ImageMagick
`scripts on Fred's ImageMagick Site, often as a proof of concept for future IM additions.
`
`Also to Professor Nicolas Robidoux, of Laurentian University, for the reworking of the Elliptical Weighted
`Average Resampling, which vastly improves the output of General Image Distortion.
`
`There are also users of ImageMagick that rather than hiding how they do things lets you see and modify the IM
`commands directly as part of the large project.
`
`Well enough "Yadda, yadda, yadda", go look at some of the examples.
`
`https://web.archive.org/web/20120327064501/http://www.imagemagick.org/Usage/
`
`6/7
`
`Page 6 of 7
`
`

`

`4/11/22, 10:49 PM
`Created: 7 November 2003
`Updated: 15 March 2011
`Author: Anthony Thyssen, <A.Thyssen_AT_griffith.edu.au>
`Examples Generated with:
`Licence: IM Examples follows the same Licence as ImageMagick
`
`URL: http://www.imagemagick.org/Usage/
`
`ImageMagick v6 Examples
`
`https://web.archive.org/web/20120327064501/http://www.imagemagick.org/Usage/
`
`7/7
`
`Page 7 of 7
`
`