Image Manipulation with ImageMagick

This skill enables image processing and manipulation tasks using ImageMagick across Windows, Linux, and macOS systems.

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when you need to:

Resize images (single or batch) Get image dimensions and metadata Convert between image formats Create thumbnails Process wallpapers for different screen sizes Batch process multiple images with specific criteria Prerequisites ImageMagick installed on the system Windows: PowerShell with ImageMagick available as magick (or at C:\Program Files\ImageMagick-*\magick.exe) Linux/macOS: Bash with ImageMagick installed via package manager (apt, brew, etc.) Core Capabilities 1. Image Information Get image dimensions (width x height) Retrieve detailed metadata (format, color space, etc.) Identify image format 2. Image Resizing Resize single images Batch resize multiple images Create thumbnails with specific dimensions Maintain aspect ratios 3. Batch Processing Process images based on dimensions Filter and process specific file types Apply transformations to multiple files Usage Examples Example 0: Resolve magick executable

PowerShell (Windows):

Prefer ImageMagick on PATH

$magick = (Get-Command magick -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue)?.Source

Fallback: common install pattern under Program Files

if (-not $magick) { $magick = Get-ChildItem "C:\Program Files\ImageMagick-*\magick.exe" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Select-Object -First 1 -ExpandProperty FullName }

if (-not $magick) { throw "ImageMagick not found. Install it and/or add 'magick' to PATH." }

Bash (Linux/macOS):

Check if magick is available on PATH

if ! command -v magick &> /dev/null; then echo "ImageMagick not found. Install it using your package manager:" echo " Ubuntu/Debian: sudo apt install imagemagick" echo " macOS: brew install imagemagick" exit 1 fi

Example 1: Get Image Dimensions

PowerShell (Windows):

For a single image

& $magick identify -format "%wx%h" path/to/image.jpg

For multiple images

Get-ChildItem "path/to/images/*" | ForEach-Object { $dimensions = & $magick identify -format "%f: %wx%h`n" $_.FullName Write-Host $dimensions }

Bash (Linux/macOS):

For a single image

magick identify -format "%wx%h" path/to/image.jpg

For multiple images

for img in path/to/images/*; do magick identify -format "%f: %wx%h\n" "$img" done

Example 2: Resize Images

PowerShell (Windows):

Resize a single image

& $magick input.jpg -resize 427x240 output.jpg

Batch resize images

Get-ChildItem "path/to/images/*" | ForEach-Object { & $magick $.FullName -resize 427x240 "path/to/output/thumb$($_.Name)" }

Bash (Linux/macOS):

Resize a single image

magick input.jpg -resize 427x240 output.jpg

Batch resize images

for img in path/to/images/*; do filename=$(basename "$img") magick "$img" -resize 427x240 "path/to/output/thumb_$filename" done

Example 3: Get Detailed Image Information

PowerShell (Windows):

Get verbose information about an image

& $magick identify -verbose path/to/image.jpg

Bash (Linux/macOS):

Get verbose information about an image

magick identify -verbose path/to/image.jpg

Example 4: Process Images Based on Dimensions

PowerShell (Windows):

Get-ChildItem "path/to/images/*" | ForEach-Object { $dimensions = & $magick identify -format "%w,%h" $.FullName if ($dimensions) { $width,$height = $dimensions -split ',' if ([int]$width -eq 2560 -or [int]$height -eq 1440) { Write-Host "Processing $($.Name)" & $magick $.FullName -resize 427x240 "path/to/output/thumb$($_.Name)" } } }

Bash (Linux/macOS):

for img in path/to/images/*; do dimensions=$(magick identify -format "%w,%h" "$img") if [[ -n "$dimensions" ]]; then width=$(echo "$dimensions" | cut -d',' -f1) height=$(echo "$dimensions" | cut -d',' -f2) if [[ "$width" -eq 2560 || "$height" -eq 1440 ]]; then filename=$(basename "$img") echo "Processing $filename" magick "$img" -resize 427x240 "path/to/output/thumb_$filename" fi fi done

Guidelines Always quote file paths - Use quotes around file paths that might contain spaces Use the & operator (PowerShell) - Invoke the magick executable using & in PowerShell Store the path in a variable (PowerShell) - Assign the ImageMagick path to $magick for cleaner code Wrap in loops - When processing multiple files, use ForEach-Object (PowerShell) or for loops (Bash) Verify dimensions first - Check image dimensions before processing to avoid unnecessary operations Use appropriate resize flags - Consider using ! to force exact dimensions or ^ for minimum dimensions Common Patterns PowerShell Patterns Pattern: Store ImageMagick Path $magick = (Get-Command magick).Source

Pattern: Get Dimensions as Variables $dimensions = & $magick identify -format "%w,%h" $_.FullName $width,$height = $dimensions -split ','

Pattern: Conditional Processing if ([int]$width -gt 1920) { & $magick $_.FullName -resize 1920x1080 $outputPath }

Pattern: Create Thumbnails & $magick $.FullName -resize 427x240 "thumbnails/thumb$($_.Name)"

Bash Patterns Pattern: Check ImageMagick Installation command -v magick &> /dev/null || { echo "ImageMagick required"; exit 1; }

Pattern: Get Dimensions as Variables dimensions=$(magick identify -format "%w,%h" "$img") width=$(echo "$dimensions" | cut -d',' -f1) height=$(echo "$dimensions" | cut -d',' -f2)

Pattern: Conditional Processing if [[ "$width" -gt 1920 ]]; then magick "$img" -resize 1920x1080 "$outputPath" fi

Pattern: Create Thumbnails filename=$(basename "$img") magick "$img" -resize 427x240 "thumbnails/thumb_$filename"

Limitations Large batch operations may be memory-intensive Some complex operations may require additional ImageMagick delegates On older Linux systems, use convert instead of magick (ImageMagick 6.x vs 7.x)