PerlMagick is an objected-oriented Perl interface to ImageMagick. Use the module to read, manipulate, or write an image or image sequence from within a Perl script. This makes it very suitable for Web CGI scripts. You must have ImageMagick 6.2.0 or above and Perl version 5.005_02 or greater installed on your system for either of these utilities to work. There are a number of useful scripts available to show you the value of PerlMagick. You can do Web based image manipulation and conversion with MagickStudio, or use L-systems to create images of plants using mathematical constructs, and finally navigate through collections of thumbnail images and select the image to view with the WebMagick Image Navigator. You can try PerlMagick from your Web browser at the ImageMagick Studio. Or, you can see examples of select PerlMagick functions. ## Installation UNIX The following instructions for Unix apply only to the unbundled PerlMagick as obtained from CPAN. PerlMagick is included as a subdirectory (PerlMagick) of the ImageMagick source distribution, and may be configured and built using the instructions provided in the ImageMagick distribution's README.txt file. It is usually most convenient to install PerlMagick as part of the ImageMagick distribution. ImageMagick must already be installed on your system. Next, get the PerlMagick distribution corresponding to the installed ImageMagick distribution (e.g. PerlMagick 6.22 for ImageMagick 6.2.2) and unpack it as shown below:
      gunzip -c PerlMagick-6.22.tar.gz | tar -xvf -
      cd PerlMagick
Next, edit `Makefile.PL` and change LIBS and INC to include the appropriate path information to the required libMagick library. You will also need paths to JPEG, PNG, TIFF, etc. delegates if they were included with your installed version of ImageMagick. Build and install it like this:
      perl Makefile.PL
      make
      make install
For Unix, you typically need to be root to install the software. There are ways around this. Consult the Perl manual pages for more information. Windows XP / Windows 2000 ImageMagick must already be installed on your system. Also, the ImageMagick source distribution for Windows 2000 is required. You must also have the nmake from the Visual C++ or J++ development environment. Copy \bin\IMagick.dll and \bin\X11.dll to a directory in your dynamic load path such as c:\perl\site\5.00502. Next, type
      cd PerlMagick
      copy Makefile.nt Makefile.PL
      perl Makefile.PL
      nmake
      nmake install
See the PerlMagick Windows HowTo page for further installation instructions. Running the Regression Tests To verify a correct installation, type
      make test
Use nmake test under Windows. There are a few demonstration scripts available to exercise many of the functions PerlMagick can perform. Type
      cd demo
      make
You are now ready to utilize the PerlMagick methods from within your Perl scripts. ## Overview Any script that wants to use PerlMagick methods must first define the methods within its namespace and instantiate an image object. Do this with:
      use Image::Magick;

      $image=Image::Magick->new;
The new() method takes the same parameters as SetAttribute . For example,
      $image=Image::Magick->new(size=>'384x256');
Next you will want to read an image or image sequence, manipulate it, and then display or write it. The input and output methods for PerlMagick are defined in Read or Write an Image. See Set an Image Attribute for methods that affect the way an image is read or written. Refer to Manipulate an Image for a list of methods to transform an image. Get an Image Attribute describes how to retrieve an attribute for an image. Refer to Create an Image Montage for details about tiling your images as thumbnails on a background. Finally, some methods do not neatly fit into any of the categories just mentioned. Review Miscellaneous Methods for a list of these methods. Once you are finished with a PerlMagick object you should consider destroying it. Each image in an image sequence is stored in virtual memory. This can potentially add up to mega-bytes of memory. Upon destroying a PerlMagick object, the memory is returned for use by other Perl methods. The recommended way to destroy an object is with undef:
      undef $image;
To delete all the images but retain the Image::Magick object use
      @$image = ();
and finally, to delete a single image from a multi-image sequence, use
      undef $image->[x];
The next section illustrates how to use various PerlMagick methods to manipulate an image sequence. Some of the PerlMagick methods require external programs such as Ghostscript. This may require an explicit path in your PATH environment variable to work properly. For example,
      $ENV{PATH}='/../bin:/usr/bin:/usr/local/bin';
## Example Script Here is an example script to get you started:
      #!/usr/local/bin/perl
      use Image::Magick;

      my($image, $x);

      $image = Image::Magick->new;
      $x = $image->Read('girl.png', 'logo.png', 'rose.png');
      warn "$x" if "$x";

      $x = $image->Crop(geometry=>'100x100"+100"+100');
      warn "$x" if "$x";

      $x = $image->Write('x.png');
      warn "$x" if "$x";
The script reads three images, crops them, and writes a single image as a GIF animation sequence. In many cases you may want to access individual images of a sequence. The next example illustrates how this is done:
      #!/usr/local/bin/perl
      use Image::Magick;

      my($image, $p, $q);

      $image = new Image::Magick;
      $image->Read('x1.png');
      $image->Read('j*.jpg');
      $image->Read('k.miff[1, 5, 3]');
      $image->Contrast();
      for ($x = 0; $image->[x]; $x++)
      {
        $image->[x]->Frame('100x200') if $image->[x]->Get('magick') eq 'GIF';
        undef $image->[x] if $image->[x]->Get('columns') < 100;
      }
      $p = $image->[1];
      $p->Draw(stroke=>'red', primitive=>'rectangle', points=>20,20 100,100');
      $q = $p->Montage();
      undef $image;
      $q->Write('x.miff');
Suppose you want to start out with a 100 by 100 pixel white canvas with a red pixel in the center. Try
      $image = Image::Magick->new;
      $image->Set(size=>'100x100');
      $image->ReadImage('xc:white');
      $image->Set('pixel[49,49]'=>'red');
Or suppose you want to convert your color image to grayscale:
      $image->Quantize(colorspace=>'gray');
Here we annotate an image with a Taipai TrueType font:
      $text = 'Works like magick!';
      $image->Annotate(font=>'kai.ttf', pointsize=>40, fill=>'green', text=>$text);
Other clever things you can do with a PerlMagick objects include
      $i = $#$p"+1";   # return the number of images associated with object p
      push(@$q, @$p);  # push the images from object p onto object q
      @$p = ();        # delete the images but not the object p
      $p->Convolve([1, 2, 1, 2, 4, 2, 1, 2, 1]);   # 3x3 Gaussian kernel
## Read or Write an Image Use the methods listed below to either read, write, or display an image or image sequence:
Read or Write Methods
Method | Parameters | Return Value | Description
--- | --- | --- | ---
Read | one or more filenames | the number of images read | read an image or image sequence
Write | filename | the number of images written | write an image or image sequence
Display | server name | the number of images displayed | display the image or image sequence to an X server
Animate | server name | the number of images animated | animate image sequence to an X server
For convenience, methods Write(), Display(), and Animate() can take any parameter that SetAttribute knows about. For example,
      $image->Write(filename=>'image.png', compression=>'None');
Use - as the filename to method Read() to read from standard in or to method Write() to write to standard out:
      binmode STDOUT;
      $image->Write('png:-');
To read an image in the GIF format from a PERL filehandle, use:
      $image = Image::Magick->new;
      open(IMAGE, 'image.gif');
      $image->Read(file=>\*IMAGE);
      close(IMAGE);
To write an image in the PNG format to a PERL filehandle, use:
      $filename = "image.png";
      open(IMAGE, ">$filename");
      $image->Write(file=>\*IMAGE, filename=>$filename);
      close(IMAGE);
If %0Nd, %0No, or %0Nx appears in the filename, it is interpreted as a printf format specification and the specification is replaced with the specified decimal, octal, or hexadecimal encoding of the scene number. For example,
      image%03d.miff
converts files image000.miff, image001.miff, etc. You can optionally add Image to any method name. For example, ReadImage() is an alias for method Read(). ## Manipulate an Image Once you create an image with, for example, method ReadImage() you may want to operate on it. Below is a list of all the image manipulations methods available to you with PerlMagick. There are examples of select PerlMagick methods. Here is an example call to an image manipulation method:
      $image->Crop(geometry=>'100x100"+10+20');
      $image->[x]->Frame("100x200");
And here is a list of other image manipulation methods you can call:
Image Manipulation Methods
Method | Parameters | Description
--- | --- | ---
AdaptiveThreshold | geometry=>geometry, width=>integer, height=>integer, offset=>integer | local adaptive thresholding.
AddNoise | noise=>{Uniform, Gaussian, Multiplicative, Impulse, Laplacian, Poisson}, channel=>{All, alpha, Black, Blue, Cyan, Gray, Green, Index, Magenta, Opacity, Red, Yellow} | add noise to an image
AffineTransform | affine=>array of float values, translate=>float, float, scale=> float, float, rotate=>float, skewX=>float, skewY=>float | affine transform image
Annotate | text=>string, font=>string, family=>string, style=>{Normal, Italic, Oblique, Any}, stretch=>{Normal, UltraCondensed, ExtraCondensed, Condensed, SemiCondensed, SemiExpanded, Expanded, ExtraExpanded, UltraExpanded}, weight=>integer, pointsize=>integer, density=>geometry, stroke=> color name, strokewidth=>integer, fill=>color name, undercolor=>color name, geometry=>geometry, gravity=>{NorthWest, North, NorthEast, West, Center, East, SouthWest, South, SouthEast}, antialias=>{true, false}, x=>integer, y=>integer, affine=>array of float values, translate=>float, float, scale=>float, float, rotate=>float. skewX=>float, skewY=> float, align=>{Left, Center, Right}, encoding=>{UTF-8} | annotate an image with text. See QueryFontMetrics to get font metrics without rendering any text.
BlackThreshold | threshold=>string | force all pixels below the threshold intensity into black
Blur | geometry=>geometry, radius=>double, sigma=>double, channel=>{All, alpha, Black, Blue, Cyan, Gray, Green, Index, Magenta, Opacity, Red, Yellow} | blur the image with a Gaussian operator of the given radius and standard deviation (sigma).
Border | geometry=>geometry, width=>integer, height=>integer, fill=>color name, compose=>{Undefined, Add, Atop, Blend, Bumpmap, Clear, ColorBurn, ColorDodge, Colorize, CopyBlack, CopyBlue, CopyCyan, CopyGreen, Copy, CopyMagenta, CopyOpacity, CopyRed, CopyYellow, Darken, Dst, Difference, Displace, Dissolve, DstAtop, DstIn, DstOut, DstOver, Dst, Exclusion, HardLight, Hue, In, Lighten, Luminize, Minus, Modulate, Multiply, None, Out, Overlay, Over, Plus, ReplaceCompositeOp, Saturate, Screen, SoftLight, Src, SrcAtop, SrcIn, SrcOut, SrcOver, Src, Subtract, Threshold, Xor }, | surround the image with a border of color
Charcoal | geometry=>geometry, radius=>double, sigma=>double | simulate a charcoal drawing
Chop | geometry=>geometry, width=>integer, height=>integer, x=>integer, y=>integer | chop an image
Clip | id=>name, inside=>{true, false}, | apply along a named path from the 8BIM profile.
Coalesce |  | merge a sequence of images
ColorFloodfill | geometry=>geometry, x=>integer, y=>integer , fill=>color name, bordercolor=>color name, fuzz=>double | changes the color value of any pixel that matches the color of the target pixel and is a neighbor. If you specify a border color, the color value is changed for any neighbor pixel that is not that color.
Colorize | fill=>color name, opacity=>string | colorize the image with the fill color
Comment | string | add a comment to your image
Compare | image=>image-handle | compare image to a reference image
Composite | image=>image-handle, compose=>{Undefined, Add, Atop, Blend, Bumpmap, Clear, ColorBurn, ColorDodge, Colorize, CopyBlack, CopyBlue, CopyCyan, CopyGreen, Copy, CopyMagenta, CopyOpacity, CopyRed, CopyYellow, Darken, Dst, Difference, Displace, Dissolve, DstAtop, DstIn, DstOut, DstOver, Dst, Exclusion, HardLight, Hue, In, Lighten, Luminize, Minus, Modulate, Multiply, None, Out, Overlay, Over, Plus, ReplaceCompositeOp, Saturate, Screen, SoftLight, Src, SrcAtop, SrcIn, SrcOut, SrcOver, Src, Subtract, Threshold, Xor }, mask=>image-handle, geometry=>geometry, x=>integer, y=>integer, gravity=>{NorthWest, North, NorthEast, West, Center, East, SouthWest, South, SouthEast}, opacity=>integer, tile=>{True, False}, rotate=>double, color=>color name | composite one image onto another
Contrast | sharpen=>{True, False} | enhance or reduce the image contrast
Convolve | coefficients=>array of float values, channel=>{All, alpha, Black, Blue, Cyan, Gray, Green, Index, Magenta, Opacity, Red, Yellow}, bias=>;double | apply a convolution kernel to the image. Given a kernel order , you would supply order*order float values (e.g. 3x3 implies 9 values).
Crop | geometry=>geometry, width=>integer, height=>integer, x=>integer, y=>integer, fuzz=>double | crop an image
CycleColormap | amount=>integer | displace image colormap by amount
Deconstruct |  | break down an image sequence into constituent parts
Despeckle |  | reduce the speckles within an image
Draw | primitive=>{point, line, rectangle, arc, ellipse, circle, path, polyline, polygon, bezier, color, matte, text, @filename}, points=>string , method=>{Point, Replace, Floodfill, FillToBorder, Reset}, stroke=>color name, fill=>color name, tile=>image-handle, strokewidth=>float, antialias=>{true, false}, bordercolor=>color name, x=>float, y=>float, affine=>array of float values, translate=>float, float, scale=>float, float, rotate=>float. skewX=>float, skewY=>float | annotate an image with one or more graphic primitives
Edge | radius=>double | enhance edges within the image with a convolution filter of the given radius.
Emboss | geometry=>geometry, radius=>double, sigma=>double | emboss the image with a convolution filter of the given radius and standard deviation (sigma).
Enhance |  | apply a digital filter to enhance a noisy image
Equalize |  | perform histogram equalization to the image
Extent | geometry=>geometry, width=>integer, height=>integer | set the image size
Evaluate | value=>double, operator=>;{Add, And, Divide, LeftShift, Max, Min, Multiply, Or, Rightshift, Subtract, Xor}, channel=>{All, alpha, Black, Blue, Cyan, Gray, Green, Index, Magenta, Opacity, Red, Yellow} | apply an arithmetic, relational, or logical expression to the image
Flip |  | create a mirror image by reflecting the image scanlines in the vertical direction
Flop |  | create a mirror image by reflecting the image scanlines in the horizontal direction
Frame | geometry=>geometry, width=>integer, height=>integer, inner=>integer, outer=>integer, fill=>color name, compose=>{Undefined, Add, Atop, Blend, Bumpmap, Clear, ColorBurn, ColorDodge, Colorize, CopyBlack, CopyBlue, CopyCyan, CopyGreen, Copy, CopyMagenta, CopyOpacity, CopyRed, CopyYellow, Darken, Dst, Difference, Displace, Dissolve, DstAtop, DstIn, DstOut, DstOver, Dst, Exclusion, HardLight, Hue, In, Lighten, Luminize, Minus, Modulate, Multiply, None, Out, Overlay, Over, Plus, ReplaceCompositeOp, Saturate, Screen, SoftLight, Src, SrcAtop, SrcIn, SrcOut, SrcOver, Src, Subtract, Threshold, Xor }, | surround the image with an ornamental border
Gamma | gamma=>string, channel=>{All, alpha, Black, Blue, Cyan, Gray, Green, Index, Magenta, Opacity, Red, Yellow} | gamma correct the image
GaussianBlur | geometry=>geometry, radius=>double, sigma=>double, channel=>{All, alpha, Black, Blue, Cyan, Gray, Green, Index, Magenta, Opacity, Red, Yellow} | blur the image with a Gaussian operator of the given radius and standard deviation (sigma).
GetPixels | geometry=>geometry, width=>integer, height=>integer, x=>integer, y=>integer, map=>string, normalize=>{true, false}, | get image pixels as defined by the map (e.g. "RGB", "RGBA", etc.). By default non-normalized pixel values are returned.
Identify | file=>file | identify the attributes of an image
Implode | amount=>double | implode image pixels about the center
Label | string | assign a label to an image
Level | level=>string, 'black-point'=>double, 'gamma'=>double, 'white-point'=>double, channel=>{Red, Cyan, Green, Magenta, Blue, Yellow, Opacity, Black, or All} | adjust the level of image contrast
Magnify |  | double the size of an image
Map | image=>image-handle, dither=>{True, False} | choose a particular set of colors from this image
MatteFloodfill | geometry=>geometry, x=>integer, y=>integer , matte=>integer, bordercolor=>color name, fuzz=>double | changes the matte value of any pixel that matches the color of the target pixel and is a neighbor. If you specify a border color, the matte value is changed for any neighbor pixel that is not that color.
MedianFilter | radius=>double | replace each pixel with the median intensity pixel of a neighborhood.
Minify |  | half the size of an image
Modulate | brightness=>double, saturation=>double, hue=>double, luminosity=>double, whiteness=>double, blackness=>double | vary the brightness, saturation, and hue of an image by the specified percentage
MotionBlur | geometry=>geometry, radius=>double, sigma=>double, angle=>double | blur the image with a Gaussian operator of the given radius and standard deviation (sigma) at the given angle to simulate the effect of motion
Negate | gray=>{True, False}, channel=>{All, alpha, Black, Blue, Cyan, Gray, Green, Index, Magenta, Opacity, Red, Yellow} | replace every pixel with its complementary color (white becomes black, yellow becomes blue, etc.)
Normalize | channel=>{All, alpha, Black, Blue, Cyan, Gray, Green, Index, Magenta, Opacity, Red, Yellow} | transform image to span the full range of color values
OilPaint | radius=>integer | simulate an oil painting
Opaque | color=>color name, fill=>color name | change this color to the fill color within the image
Posterize | levels=>integer, dither=>{True, False} | reduce the image to a limited number of color level
Profile | name=>string, profile=>blob | add or remove ICC or IPTC image profile; name is formal name (e.g. ICC or filename; set profile to '' to remove profile
Quantize | colors=>integer, colorspace=>{RGB, Gray, Transparent, OHTA, XYZ, YCbCr, YIQ, YPbPr, YUV, CMYK, sRGB, HSL, HSB}, treedepth=> integer, dither=>{True, False}, measure_error=>{True, False}, global_colormap=>{True, False} | preferred number of colors in the image
RadialBlur | angle=>double | radial blur the image.
Raise | geometry=>geometry, width=>integer, height=>integer, x=>integer, y=>integer, raise=>{True, False} | lighten or darken image edges to create a 3-D effect
ReduceNoise | radius=>double | reduce noise in the image with a noise peak elimination filter
Resample | density=>geometry, x=>double, y=>double, filter=>{Point, Box, Triangle, Hermite, Hanning, Hamming, Blackman, Gaussian, Quadratic, Cubic, Catrom, Mitchell, Lanczos, Bessel, Sinc}, support=>double | resample image to desired resolution. Specify blur > 1 for blurry or < 1 for sharp
Resize | geometry=>geometry, width=>integer, height=>integer, filter=>{Point, Box, Triangle, Hermite, Hanning, Hamming, Blackman, Gaussian, Quadratic, Cubic, Catrom, Mitchell, Lanczos, Bessel, Sinc}, support=>double | scale image to desired size. Specify support > 1 for blurry or < 1 for sharp
Roll | geometry=>geometry, x=>integer, y=>integer | roll an image vertically or horizontally
Rotate | degrees=>double, color=>color name | rotate an image
Sample | geometry=>geometry, width=>integer, height=>integer | scale image with pixel sampling
Scale | geometry=>geometry, width=>integer, height=>integer | scale image to desired size
Segment | colorspace=>{RGB, Gray, Transparent, OHTA, XYZ, YCbCr, YCC, YIQ, YPbPr, YUV, CMYK}, verbose={True, False}, cluster=>double, smooth=double | segment an image by analyzing the histograms of the color components and identifying units that are homogeneous
Separate | channel=>{Red, Cyan, Green, Magenta, Blue, Yellow, Opacity, Black, or All} | separate a channel from the image into a grayscale image
Shade | geometry=>geometry, azimuth=>double, elevation=>double, gray=>{true, false} | shade the image using a distant light source
Shadow | geometry=>geometry, opacity=>double, sigma=>double, x=>integer, y=>integer | simulate an image shadow
Sharpen | geometry=>geometry, radius=>double, sigma=>double, channel=>{All, alpha, Black, Blue, Cyan, Gray, Green, Index, Magenta, Opacity, Red, Yellow} | sharpen the image with a Gaussian operator of the given radius and standard deviation (sigma).
Shave | geometry=>geometry, width=>integer, height=>integer | shave pixels from the image edges
Shear | geometry=>geometry, x=>double, y=>double color=>color name | shear the image along the X or Y axis by a positive or negative shear angle
SigmoidalContrast | geometry=>string, 'contrast'=>double, 'mid-point'=>double channel=>{Red, Cyan, Green, Magenta, Blue, Yellow, Opacity, Black, or All}, sharpen=>{True, False} | sigmoidal non-lineraity contrast control. Increase the contrast of the image using a sigmoidal transfer function without saturating highlights or shadows. Contrast indicates how much to increase the contrast (0 is none; 3 is typical; 20 is a lot); mid-point indicates where midtones fall in the resultant image (0 is white; 50% is middle-gray; 100% is black). To decrease contrast, set sharpen to False.
Signature |  | generate an SHA-256 message digest for the image pixel stream
Solarize | threshold=>double | negate all pixels above the threshold level
Splice | geometry=>geometry, width=>integer, height=>integer, x=>integer, y=>integer, fuzz=>double | splice an image
Spread | amount=>double | displace image pixels by a random amount
Stegano | image=>image-handle, offset=>integer | hide a digital watermark within the image
Stereo | image=>image-handle | composites two images and produces a single image that is the composite of a left and right image of a stereo pair
Strip |  | strip an image of all profiles and comments.
Swirl | degrees=>double | swirl image pixels about the center
Texture | texture=>image-handle | name of texture to tile onto the image background
Thumbnail | geometry=>geometry, width=>integer, height=>integer | changes the size of an image to the given dimensions and removes any associated profiles.
Threshold | threshold=>string, channel=>{All, alpha, Black, Blue, Cyan, Gray, Green, Index, Magenta, Opacity, Red, Yellow} | threshold the image
Tint | fill=>color name, opacity=>string | tint the image with the fill color.
Transparent | color=>color name | make this color transparent within the image
Trim |  | remove edges that are the background color from the image
UnsharpMask | geometry=>geometry, radius=>double, sigma=>double, amount=>double, threshold=>double | sharpen the image with the unsharp mask algorithm.
Wave | geometry=>geometry, amplitude=>double, wavelength=>double | alter an image along a sine wave
WhiteThreshold | threshold=>string | force all pixels above the threshold intensity into white
Note, that the geometry parameter is a short cut for the width and height parameters (e.g. geometry=>'106x80' is equivalent to width=>106, height=>80 ). You can specify @filename in both Annotate() and Draw(). This reads the text or graphic primitive instructions from a file on disk. For example,
       $image->Draw(fill=>'red', primitive=>'rectangle',
       points=>'20,20 100,100  40,40 200,200  60,60 300,300');
Is equivalent to
       $image->Draw(fill=>'red', primitive=>'@draw.txt');
Where draw.txt is a file on disk that contains this:
      rectangle 20, 20 100, 100
      rectangle 40, 40 200, 200
      rectangle 60, 60 300, 300
The text parameter for methods, Annotate(), Comment(), Draw(), and Label() can include the image filename, type, width, height, or other image attribute by embedding these special format characters:
      %b   file size
      %d   comment
      %d   directory
      %e   filename extension
      %f   filename
      %h   height
      %m   magick
      %p   page number
      %s   scene number
      %t   top of filename
      %w   width
      %x   x resolution
      %y   y resolution
      %z   image depth
      \n   newline
      \r   carriage return
For example,
      text=>"%m:%f %wx%h"
produces an annotation of MIFF:bird.miff 512x480 for an image titled bird.miff and whose width is 512 and height is 480. You can optionally add Image to any method name. For example, TrimImage() is an alias for method Trim(). Most of the attributes listed above have an analog in convert. See the documentation for a more detailed description of these attributes. ## Set an Image Attribute Use method Set() to set an image attribute. For example,
      $image->Set(dither=>'True');
      $image->[$x]->Set(delay=>3);
And here is a list of all the image attributes you can set:
Image Attributes
Attribute | Values | Description
--- | --- | ---
adjoin | {True, False} | join images into a single multi-image file
antialias | {True, False} | remove pixel aliasing
area-limit | integer | set pixel area resource limit in megabytes.
authenticate | string | decrypt image with this password.
background | color name | image background color
blue-primary | x-value, y-value | chromaticity blue primary point (e.g. 0.15, 0.06)
bordercolor | color name | set the image border color
clip-mask | image | Associate a clip mask with the image.
colormap[i] | color name | color name (e.g. red) or hex value (e.g. #ccc) at position i
colorspace | {RGB, CMYK} | type of colorspace
compression | {None, BZip, Fax, Group4, JPEG, JPEG2000, LosslessJPEG, LZW, RLE, Zip} | type of image compression
debug | {All, Annotate, Blob, Cache, Coder, Configure, Deprecate, Draw, Exception, Locale, None, Resource, Transform, X11} | display copious debugging information
delay | integer | this many 1/100ths of a second must expire before displaying the next image in a sequence
density | geometry | vertical and horizontal resolution in pixels of the image
depth | integer | image depth
disk-limit | integer | set disk resource limit in megabytes
dispose | {Undefined, None, Background, Previous} | GIF disposal method
dither | {True, False} | apply error diffusion to the image
display | string | specifies the X server to contact
extract | geometry | extract area from image
file | filehandle | set the image filehandle
filename | string | set the image filename
fill | color | The fill color paints any areas inside the outline of drawn shape.
font | string | use this font when annotating the image with text
fuzz | integer | colors within this distance are considered equal
gamma | double | gamma level of the image
Gravity | {Forget, NorthWest, North, NorthEast, West, Center, East, SouthWest, South, SouthEast} | type of image gravity
green-primary | x-value, y-value | chromaticity green primary point (e.g. 0.3, 0.6)
index[x, y] | string | colormap index at position (x, y)
interlace | {None, Line, Plane, Partition} | the type of interlacing scheme
iterations | integer | add Netscape loop extension to your GIF animation
loop | integer | add Netscape loop extension to your GIF animation
magick | string | set the image format
matte | {True, False} | True if the image has transparency
mattecolor | color name | set the image matte color
map-limit | integer | set map resource limit in megabytes
memory-limit | integer | set memory resource limit in megabytes
monochrome | {True, False} | transform the image to black and white
option | string | associate an option with an image format (e.g. option=>'ps:imagemask'
orientation | {top-left, top-right, bottom-right, bottom-left, left-top, right-top, right-bottom, left-bottom} | image orientation
page | { Letter, Tabloid, Ledger, Legal, Statement, Executive, A3, A4, A5, B4, B5, Folio, Quarto, 10x14} or geometry | preferred size and location of an image canvas
pixel[x, y] | string | hex value (e.g. #ccc) at position (x, y)
pointsize | integer | pointsize of the Postscript or TrueType font
quality | integer | JPEG/MIFF/PNG compression level
red-primary | x-value, y-value | chromaticity red primary point (e.g. 0.64, 0.33)
rendering-intent | {Undefined, Saturation, Perceptual, Absolute, Relative} | the type of rendering intent
sampling-factor | geometry | horizontal and vertical sampling factor
scene | integer | image scene number
server | string | specifies the X server to contact
size | string | width and height of a raw image
stroke | color | The stroke color paints along the outline of a shape.
texture | string | name of texture to tile onto the image background
type | {Bilevel, Grayscale, GrayscaleMatte, Palette, PaletteMatte, TrueColor, TrueColorMatte, ColorSeparation, ColorSeparationMatte, Optimize } | image type
units | { Undefined, PixelsPerInch, PixelsPerCentimeters} | units of image resolution
verbose | {True, False} | print detailed information about the image
virtual-pixel | {Background, Edge, Mirror, Tile, Transparent} | the virtual pixel method
white-point | x-value, y-value | chromaticity white point (e.g. 0.3127, 0.329)
Note, that the geometry parameter is a short cut for the width and height parameters (e.g. geometry=>'106x80' is equivalent to width=>106, height=>80). SetAttribute() is an alias for method Set(). Most of the attributes listed above have an analog in convert. See the documentation for a more detailed description of these attributes. ## Get an Image Attribute Use method Get() to get an image attribute. For example,
      ($a, $b, $c) = $image->Get('colorspace', 'magick', 'adjoin');
      $width = $image->[3]->Get('columns');
In addition to all the attributes listed in Set an Image Attribute , you can get these additional attributes:
Image Attributes
Attribute | Values | Description
--- | --- | ---
area | integer | current area resource consumed
base-columns | integer | base image width (before transformations)
base-filename | string | base image filename (before transformations)
base-rows | integer | base image height (before transformations)
class | {Direct, Pseudo} | image class
colors | integer | number of unique colors in the image
comment | string | get the image comment
columns | integer | image width
copyright | string | get PerlMagick's copyright
directory | string | tile names from within an image montage
elapsed-time | double | elapsed time in seconds since the image was created
error | double | the mean error per pixel computed with methods Compare() or Quantize()
bounding-box | string | image bounding box
disk | integer | current disk resource consumed
filesize | integer | number of bytes of the image on disk
format | string | get the descriptive image format
geometry | string | image geometry
height | integer | the number of rows or height of an image
id | integer | ImageMagick registry id
label | string | image label
mean-error | double | the normalized mean error per pixel computed with methods Compare() or Quantize()
map | integer | current memory-mapped resource consumed
maximum-error | double | the normalized max error per pixel computed with methods Compare() or Quantize()
memory | integer | current memory resource consumed
MIME | string | get the image MIME type
mime | string | MIME of the image format
montage | geometry | tile size and offset within an image montage
rows | integer | the number of rows or height of an image
signature | string | SHA-256 message digest associated with the image pixel stream
taint | {True, False} | True if the image has been modified
user-time | double | user time in seconds since the image was created
version | string | get PerlMagick's version
width | integer | the number of columns or width of an image
x-resolution | integer | x resolution of the image
y-resolution | integer | y resolution of the image
GetAttribute() is an alias for method Get(). Most of the attributes listed above have an analog in convert. See the documentation for a more detailed description of these attributes. ## Create an Image Montage Use method Montage() to create a composite image by combining several separate images. The images are tiled on the composite image with the name of the image optionally appearing just below the individual tile. For example,
      $image->Montage(geometry=>'160x160', tile=>'2x2', texture=>'granite:');
And here is a list of Montage() parameters you can set:
Montage Parameters
Parameter | Values | Description
--- | --- | ---
background | color name | background color name
border | integer | image border width
filename | string | name of montage image
fill | color name | fill color for annotations
font | string | X11 font name
frame | geometry | surround the image with an ornamental border
geometry | geometry | preferred tile and border size of each tile of the composite image (e.g. 120x120+4+3>)
gravity | {NorthWest, North, NorthEast, West, Center, East, SouthWest, South, SouthEast} | direction image gravitates to within a tile
label | string | assign a label to an image
mode | {Frame, Unframe, Concatenate} | thumbnail framing options
pointsize | integer | pointsize of the Postscript or TrueType font
shadow | {True, False} | add a shadow beneath a tile to simulate depth
stroke | color name | stroke color for annotations
texture | string | name of texture to tile onto the image background
tile | geometry | the number of tiles per row and page (e.g. 6x4)
title | string | assign a title to the image montage
transparent | string | make this color transparent within the image
Note, that the geometry parameter is a short cut for the width and height parameters (e.g. geometry=>'106x80' is equivalent to width=>106, height=>80). MontageImage() is an alias for method Montage(). Most of the attributes listed above have an analog in montage. See the documentation for a more detailed description of these attributes. ## Working with Blobs A blob contains data that directly represent a particular image format in memory instead of on disk. PerlMagick supports blobs in any of these image formats and provides methods to convert a blob to or from a particular image format.
Blob Methods
Method | Parameters | Return Value | Description
--- | --- | --- | ---
ImageToBlob | any image attribute | an array of image data in the respective image format | convert an image or image sequence to an array of blobs
BlobToImage | one or more blobs | the number of blobs converted to an image | convert one or more blobs to an image
ImageToBlob() returns the image data in their respective formats. You can then print it, save it to an ODBC database, write it to a file, or pipe it to a display program:
      @blobs = $image->ImageToBlob();
      open(DISPLAY,"| display -") || die;
      binmode DISPLAY;
      print DISPLAY $blobs[0];
      close DISPLAY;
Method BlobToImage() returns an image or image sequence converted from the supplied blob:
      @blob=$db->GetImage();
      $image=Image::Magick->new(magick=>'jpg');
      $image->BlobToImage(@blob);
## Miscellaneous Methods The Append() method append a set of images. For example,
      $p = $image->Append(stack=>{true,false});
appends all the images associated with object $image. By default, images are stacked left-to-right. Set stack to True to stack them top-to-bottom. The Average() method averages a set of images. For example,
      $p = $image->Average();
averages all the images associated with object $image. The Clone() method copies a set of images. For example,
      $p = $image->Clone();
copies all the images from object $q to $p. You can use this method for single or multi-image sequences. The Flatten() method flattens a set of images. For example,
      $p = $images->Flatten();
The sequence of images is replaced by a single image created by composing each image after the first over the first image. The Fx() method applies a mathematical expression to a set of images. For example,
      $p = $image->Fx(expression=>'(g+b)/2.0',channel=>'red');
replaces the red channel with the average of the green and blue channels. Histogram() returns the unique colors in the image and a count for each one. The returned values are an array of red, green, blue, opacity, and count values. The Morph() method morphs a set of images. Both the image pixels and size are linearly interpolated to give the appearance of a meta-morphosis from one image to the next:
      $p = $image->Morph(frames=>integer);
where frames is the number of in-between images to generate. The default is 1. Mosaic() creates an mosaic from an image sequence. Method Mogrify() is a single entry point for the image manipulation methods (Manipulate an Image). The parameters are the name of a method followed by any parameters the method may require. For example, these calls are equivalent:
      $image->Crop('340x256+0+0');
      $image->Mogrify('crop', '340x256+0+0');
Method MogrifyRegion() applies a transform to a region of the image. It is similar to Mogrify() but begins with the region geometry. For example, suppose you want to brighten a 100x100 region of your image at location (40, 50):
      $image->MogrifyRegion('100x100+40+50', 'modulate', brightness=>50);
Ping() is a convenience method that returns information about an image without having to read the image into memory. It returns the width, height, file size in bytes, and the file format of the image. You can specify more than one filename but only one filehandle:
      ($width, $height, $size, $format) = $image->Ping('logo.png');
      ($width, $height, $size, $format) = $image->Ping(file=>\*IMAGE);
      ($width, $height, $size, $format) = $image->Ping(blob=>$blob);
This is a more efficient and less memory intensive way to query if an image exists and what its characteristics are. PreviewImage() tiles 9 thumbnails of the specified image with an image processing operation applied at varying strengths. This may be helpful pin-pointing an appropriate parameter for a particular image processing operation. Choose from these operations: Rotate, Shear, Roll, Hue, Saturation, Brightness, Gamma, Spiff, Dull, Grayscale, Quantize, Despeckle, ReduceNoise, AddNoise, Sharpen, Blur, Threshold, EdgeDetect, Spread, Solarize, Shade, Raise, Segment, Swirl, Implode, Wave, OilPaint, CharcoalDrawing, JPEG. Here is an example:
      $preview = $image->Preview('Gamma');
      $preview->Display();
To have full control over text positioning you need font metric information. Use
      ($x_ppem, $y_ppem, $ascender, $descender, $width, $height, $max_advance) = $image->QueryFontMetrics(parameters);
Where parameters is any parameter of the Annotate method. The return values are: character width character height ascender descender text width text height maximum horizontal advance Use QueryMultilineFontMetrics() to get the maximum text width and height for multiple lines of text. Call QueryColor() with no parameters to return a list of known colors names or specify one or more color names to get these attributes: red, green, blue, and opacity value.
      @colors = $image->QueryColor();
      ($red, $green, $blue, $opacity) = $image->QueryColor('cyan');
      ($red, $green, $blue, $opacity) = $image->QueryColor('#716bae');
QueryColorname() accepts a color value and returns its respective name or hex value;
        $name = $image->QueryColorname('rgba(80,60,0,0)');
Call QueryFont() with no parameters to return a list of known fonts or specify one or more font names to get these attributes: font name, description, family, style, stretch, weight, encoding, foundry, format, metrics, and glyphs values.
      @fonts = $image->QueryFont();
      $weight = ($image->QueryFont('Helvetica'))[5];
Call QueryFormat() with no parameters to return a list of known image formats or specify one or more format names to get these attributes: adjoin, blob support, raw, decoder, encoder, description, and module.
      @formats = $image->QueryFormat();
      ($adjoin, $blob_support, $raw, $decoder, $encoder, $description, $module) = $image->QueryFormat('gif');
Call MagickToMime() with the image format name to get its MIME type such as image/tiff from tif.
      $mime = $image->MagickToMime('tif');
Use RemoteCommand() to send a command to an already running display or animate application. The only parameter is the name of the image file to display or animate.
      $image->RemoteCommand('image.jpg');
Statistics() returns the image statistics for each channel in the image. The returned values are an array of depth, minima, maxima, mean, and standard deviation values in RGB, CMYK, RGBA, or CMYKA order (depending on the image type).
      @statistics = $image->Statistics();
Finally, the Transform() method accepts a fully-qualified geometry specification for cropping or resizing one or more images. For example,
      $p = $image->Transform(crop=>'100x100');
You can optionally add Image to any method name above. For example, PingImage() is an alias for method Ping(). ## Handling Exceptions All PerlMagick methods return an undefined string context upon success. If any problems occur, the error is returned as a string with an embedded numeric status code. A status code less than 400 is a warning. This means that the operation did not complete but was recoverable to some degree. A numeric code greater or equal to 400 is an error and indicates the operation failed completely. Here is how exceptions are returned for the different methods: Methods which return a number (e.g. Read(), Write()):
      $x = $image->Read(...);
      warn "$x" if "$x";      # print the error message
      $x =~ /(\d+)/;
      print $1;               # print the error number
      print 0+$x;             # print the number of images read
Methods which operate on an image (e.g. Resize(), Crop()):
      $x = $image->Crop(...);
      warn "$x" if "$x";      # print the error message
      $x =~ /(\d+)/;
      print $1;               # print the error number
Methods which return images (Average(), Montage(), Clone()) should be checked for errors this way:
      $x = $image->Montage(...);
      warn "$x" if !ref($x);  # print the error message
      $x =~ /(\d+)/;
      print $1;               # print the error number
Here is an example error message:
      Error 400: Memory allocation failed
Below is a list of error and warning codes:
Error and Warning Codes
Code | Mnemonic | Description
--- | --- | ---
0 | Success | method completed without an error or warning
300 | ResourceLimitWarning | a program resource is exhausted (e.g. not enough memory)
305 | TypeWarning | A font is unavailable; a substitution may have occurred
310 | OptionWarning | a command-line option was malformed
315 | DelegateWarning | an ImageMagick delegate returned a warning
320 | MissingDelegateWarning | the image type can not be read or written because the appropriate Delegate is missing
325 | CorruptImageWarning | the image file may be corrupt
330 | FileOpenWarning | the image file could not be opened
335 | BlobWarning | a binary large object could not be allocated
340 | StreamWarning | there was a problem reading or writing from a stream
345 | CacheWarning | pixels could not be saved to the pixel cache
350 | CoderWarning | there was a problem with an image coder
355 | ModuleWarning | there was a problem with an image module
360 | DrawWarning | a drawing operation failed
365 | ImageWarning | the operation could not complete due to an incompatible image
380 | XServerWarning | an X resource is unavailable
385 | MonitorWarning | there was a problem with prgress monitor
390 | ConfigureWarning | there was a problem getting a configuration file
395 | RegistryWarning | there was a problem getting or setting the registry
400 | ResourceLimitError | a program resource is exhausted (e.g. not enough memory)
405 | TypeError | A font is unavailable; a substitution may have occurred
410 | OptionError | a command-line option was malformed
415 | DelegateError | an ImageMagick delegate returned a warning
420 | MissingDelegateError | the image type can not be read or written because the appropriate Delegate is missing
425 | CorruptImageError | the image file may be corrupt
430 | FileOpenError | the image file could not be opened
435 | BlobError | a binary large object could not be allocated
440 | StreamError | there was a problem reading or writing from a stream
445 | CacheError | pixels could not be saved to the pixel cache
450 | CoderError | there was a problem with an image coder
455 | ModuleError | there was a problem with an image module
460 | DrawError | a drawing operation failed
465 | ImageError | the operation could not complete due to an incompatible image
480 | XServerError | an X resource is unavailable
485 | MonitorError | there was a progress monitor error
490 | ConfigureError | there was a problem getting a configuration file
495 | RegistryError | there was a problem getting or setting the registry
The following illustrates how you can use a numeric status code:
      $x = $image->Read('rose.png');
      $x =~ /(\d+)/;
      die "unable to continue" if ($1 == ResourceLimitError);

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