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173
174
175
176<p class="navigation-index">[<a href="#anatomy">The Anatomy of the Command Line</a> &bull; <a href="#input">Input Filename</a> &bull; <a href="#setting">Image Setting</a> &bull; <a href="#operator">Image Operator</a> &bull; <a href="#sequence">Image Sequence Operator</a> &bull; <a href="#geometry">Image Geometry</a> &bull;  <a href="#stack">Image Stack</a> &bull; <a href="#output">Output Filename</a>]</p>
177
178<p>The ImageMagick command line can be as simple as this.</p>
179
180<p class='crt'><span class="crtprompt"> $magick&gt; </span><span class='crtin'>convert image.jpg image.png</span></p>
181<p>Or it can be very complex, as in the following.</p>
182
183<p class='crt'><span class="crtprompt"> $magick&gt; </span><span class='crtin'>convert label.gif +matte \ <br/>
184    \( +clone  -shade 110x90 -normalize -negate +clone  -compose Plus -composite \) \<br/>
185    \( -clone 0 -shade 110x50 -normalize -channel BG -fx 0 +channel -matte \) \<br/>
186    -delete 0 +swap  -compose Multiply -composite  button.gif</span></p>
187<p>Without knowing much about the ImageMagick command line, you can probably figure out that the first command above converts an image in the JPEG format to one in the PNG format.  However, very few may realize the second, more complex command, gives a flat two-dimensional label a three-dimensional look with rich textures and simulated depth:</p>
188
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190<p>
191  <a href="/images/label.gif"><img src="/images/label.gif" width="78" height="53" alt="label" /></a>
192<img style="margin-top:16px; margin-bottom:17px;" src="/images/right.gif" width="20" height="20" alt="==>" />
193  <a href="/images/button.gif">
194  <img src="/images/button.gif" width="78" height="53" alt="button" /></a>
195</p>
196</div>
197
198<p class="warn">[<em>A quick word about our formatting of commands:</em> The second example above is long enough that the command must be written across several lines, so we have formatted it for clarity by inserting backslashes (<kbd>\</kbd>). The backslash is the Unix <em>line continuation</em> character. In the Windows shell, a carat character (<kbd>^</kbd>) may be used for line continuation. We will use the Unix style on these web pages, as above. Sometimes, however, the lines may be wrapped by your browser if the browser window is small enough, but the command lines, shown in white, are still intended to be typed as one line. Line continuation characters need not be entered. The <em>parentheses</em> that are <em>escaped</em> above using the backslash are not escaped in Windows. There are some other differences between Windows and Unix (involving quotation marks, for instance), but we'll discuss some of those issues later, as they arise.]</p>
199
200
201<p>In the next sections we dissect the anatomy of the ImageMagick command line.  Hopefully, after carefully reading and better understanding how the command line works, you should be able to accomplish complex image-processing tasks without resorting to the sometimes daunting <a href="/www/api.html">program interfaces</a>.</p>
202
203<p>See <a href="http://www.imagemagick.org/Usage/">Examples of ImageMagick Usage</a> for additional help when using ImageMagick from the command-line.</p>
204
205<h2><a name="anatomy"></a>The Anatomy of the Command Line</h2>
206<p>The ImageMagick command line consists of</p>
207
208<ol>
209<li>one or more required input filenames.</li>
210<li>zero, one, or more image settings.</li>
211<li>zero, one, or more image operators.</li>
212<li>zero, one, or more image sequence operators.</li>
213<li>zero, one, or more image stacks.</li>
214<li>zero or one output image filenames (required by
215	<a href="/www/convert.html">convert</a>,
216	<a href="/www/composite.html">composite</a>,
217	<a href="/www/montage.html.html">montage.html</a>,
218	<a href="/www/compare.html">compare</a>,
219	<a href="/www/import.html">import</a>,
220	<a href="/www/conjure.html">conjure</a>).
221	</li>
222</ol>
223
224<p>You can find a detailed explanation of each of the constituent parts of the command line in the sections that follow.</p>
225
226<h2><a name="input"></a>Input Filename</h2>
227<div class="doc-section">
228
229	<p>ImageMagick extends the concept of an input filename to include:</p>
230		<ul>
231		<li>filename globbing</li>
232		<li>an explicit image format</li>
233		<li>using built-in images and patterns</li>
234		<li>STDIN, STDOUT, and file descriptors</li>
235		<li>selecting certain frames from an image</li>
236		<li>selecting a region of an image</li>
237		<li>forcing an inline image resize</li>
238		<li>forcing an inline image crop</li>
239		<li>using filename references</li>
240		</ul>
241
242	<p>These extensions are explained in the next few paragraphs.</p>
243
244	<h3>Filename Globbing</h3>
245		<div class="doc-section">
246		<p>In Unix shells, certain characters such as the asterisk (<kbd>*</kbd>) and question mark (<kbd>?</kbd>) automagically cause lists of filenames to be generated based on pattern matches. This feature is known as globbing.  ImageMagick supports filename globbing for systems, such as Windows, that does not natively support it.  For example, suppose you want to convert <kbd>1.jpg</kbd>, <kbd>2.jpg</kbd>, <kbd>3.jpg</kbd>, <kbd>4.jpg</kbd>, and <kbd>5.jpg</kbd> in your current directory to a GIF animation.  You can conveniently  refer to all of the JPEG files with this command:
247		</p>
248
249		<p class='crt'><span class="crtprompt"> $magick&gt; </span><span class='crtin'>convert *.jpg images.gif</span></p>
250		</div>
251
252	<h3>Explicit Image Format</h3>
253		<div class="doc-section">
254		<p>Images are stored in a myriad of image formats including
255the better known JPEG, PNG, TIFF and others.  ImageMagick must know the format
256of the image before it can be read and processed.  Most formats have a
257signature within the image that uniquely identifies the format.  Failing
258that, ImageMagick leverages the filename extension to determine the format. 
259For example, <kbd>image.jpg</kbd> or <kbd>image.JPG</kbd> tells ImageMagick
260it is reading an image in the JPEG format. </>
261
262                <p>In some cases the image may not contain a signature
263and/or the filename does not identify the image format.  In these cases an
264explicit image format must be specified.  For example, suppose our image
265is named <kbd>image</kbd> and contains raw red, green, and blue intensity
266values.  ImageMagick has no way to automagically determine the image format
267so we explicitly set one:
268		</p>
269
270		<p class='crt'><span class="crtprompt"> $magick&gt; </span><span class='crtin'>convert -size 640x480 -depth 8 rgb:image image.png</span></p>
271  </div>
272
273	<h3>Built-in Images and Patterns</h3>
274		<div class="doc-section">
275		<p>ImageMagick has a number of built-in <a href="/www/formats.html#builtin-images">images</a> and <a href="/www/formats.html#builtin-patterns">patterns</a>.  To utilize the checkerboard pattern, for example, use:
276		</p>
277
278		<p class='crt'><span class="crtprompt"> $magick&gt; </span><span class='crtin'>convert -size 640x480 pattern:checkerboard checkerboard.png</span></p>
279		</div>
280
281	<h3>STDIN, STDOUT, and file descriptors</h3>
282		<div class="doc-section">
283		<p>Unix and Windows permit the output of one command to be piped to the input of another. ImageMagick permits image data to be read and written from the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_streams">standard streams</a> STDIN (<em>standard in</em>) and STDOUT (<em>standard out</em>), respectively, using a pseudo-filename of <kbd>-</kbd>.  In this example we pipe the output of
284		  <a href="/www/convert.html">convert</a> to the <a href="/www/display.html">display</a> program:
285		</p>
286
287		<p class='crt'><span class="crtprompt"> $magick&gt; </span><span class='crtin'>convert logo: gif:- | display gif:-</span></p>
288		<p>The second explicit format "<kbd>gif:</kbd>" is optional in the preceding example.  The GIF image format has a unique signature within the image so ImageMagick's <a href="/www/display.html">display</a>		 command can readily recognize the format as GIF.  The <a href="/www/convert.html">convert</a> program also accepts STDIN as input in this way:
289		</p>
290
291		<p class='crt'><span class="crtprompt"> $magick&gt; </span><span class='crtin'>convert rose: gif:- | convert - -resize "200%" bigrose.jpg</span></p>
292		<p>Other pipes can be accessed via their <em>file descriptors</em> (as of version 6.4.9-3). The file descriptors 0, 1, and 2 are reserved for the standard streams STDIN, STDOUT, and STDERR, respectively, but a pipe associated with a file descriptor number <em>N</em>&gt;2 can be accessed using the pseudonym <kbd>fd:</kbd><em>N</em>. (The pseudonyms <kbd>fd:0</kbd> and <kbd>fd:1</kbd> can be used for STDIN and STDOUT.) The next example shows how to append image data piped from files with  descriptors 3 and 4 and direct the result to the file with descriptor number 5.
293		</p>
294
295		<p class='crt'><span class="crtprompt"> $magick&gt; </span><span class='crtin'>convert fd:3 fd:4 -append fd:5</span></p>
296		<p>When needed, explicit image formats can be given as mentioned earlier, as in the following.
297		</p>
298
299		<p class='crt'><span class="crtprompt"> $magick&gt; </span><span class='crtin'>convert gif:fd:3 jpg:fd:4 -append tif:fd:5</span></p>
300		</div>
301
302	<h3>Selecting Frames</h3>
303		<div class="doc-section">
304		<p>Some images formats contain more than one image frame.  Perhaps you only want the first image, or the last, or some number of images in-between.  You can specify which image frames to read by appending the image filename with the frame range enclosed in brackets.  Here our image (an animated GIF) contains more than one frame but we only want the first:
305		</p>
306
307		<p class='crt'><span class="crtprompt"> $magick&gt; </span><span class='crtin'>convert 'images.gif[0]' image.png</span></p>
308		<p class="warn">[Unix shells generally interpret brackets so we enclosed the filename in quotes above.
309In a Windows command shell the brackets are not interpreted but using quotes doesn't hurt. However, in most cases the roles of single-quotes and double-quotes are reversed with respect to Unix and Windows, so Windows users should usually try double-quotes where we display single-quotes, and vice versa.]
310		</p>
311
312		<p>You can read more than one image from a sequence with a frame range.  For example, you can extract the first four frames of an image sequence:
313		</p>
314
315		<p class='crt'><span class="crtprompt"> $magick&gt; </span><span class='crtin'>convert 'images.gif[0-3]' images.mng</span></p>
316		<p>Finally, you can read more than one image from a sequence, out-of-order. The next command gets the third image in the sequence, followed by the second, and then the fourth:
317		</p>
318
319		<p class='crt'><span class="crtprompt"> $magick&gt; </span><span class='crtin'>convert 'images.gif[3,2,4]' images.mng</span></p>
320		<p>Notice that in the last two commands, a single image is written. The output in this case, where the image type is MNG, is a multi-frame file because the MNG format supports multiple frames. Had the output format been JPG, which only supports single frames, the output would have consisted of separate frames. More about that below, in the section about the <a href="#output">Output Filename</a>.
321		</p>
322		</div>
323
324	<h3>Selecting an Image Region</h3>
325		<div class="doc-section">
326		<p>Raw images are a sequence of color intensities without additional meta information such as width, height, or image signature.  With raw image formats, you must specify the image width and height but you can also specify a region of the image to read.  In our example, the image is in the raw 8-bit RGB format and is 6000 pixels wide and 4000 pixels high.  However, we only want a region of 600 by 400 near the center of the image:
327		</p>
328
329		<p class='crt'><span class="crtprompt"> $magick&gt; </span><span class='crtin'>convert -size 6000x4000 -depth 8 \ <br/> 'rgb:image[600x400+1900+2900]' image.jpg</span></p>
330		<p>
331		  You can get the same results with the <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#extract">&#x2011;extract</a> option:
332		</p>
333
334		<p class='crt'><span class="crtprompt"> $magick&gt; </span><span class='crtin'>convert -size 6000x4000 -depth 8 \ <br/> -extract 600x400+1900+2900 rgb:image image.jpg</span></p>
335		</div>
336
337	<h3>Inline Image Resize</h3>
338		<div class="doc-section">
339		<p>It is sometimes convenient to resize an image as they are read.  Suppose you have hundreds of large JPEG images you want to convert to a sequence of PNG thumbails:
340		</p>
341
342		<p class='crt'><span class="crtprompt"> $magick&gt; </span><span class='crtin'>convert '*.jpg' -resize 120x120 thumbnail%03d.png</span></p>
343		<p>Here <em>all</em> the images are read and subsequently
344resized.  It is faster and less resource intensive to resize each image it
345is read:
346		</p>
347
348		<p class='crt'><span class="crtprompt"> $magick&gt; </span><span class='crtin'>convert '*.jpg[120x120]' thumbnail%03d.png</span></p>
349		</div>
350
351	<h3>Inline Image Crop</h3>
352		<div class="doc-section">
353		<p>It is sometimes convenient to crop an image as they are read.  Suppose you have hundreds of large JPEG images you want to convert to a sequence of PNG thumbails:
354		</p>
355
356		<p class='crt'><span class="crtprompt"> $magick&gt; </span><span class='crtin'>convert '*.jpg' -crop 120x120+10+5 thumbnail%03d.png</span></p>
357		<p>Here <em>all</em> the images are read and subsequently cropped.  It is faster and less resource-intensive to crop each image as it is read:
358		</p>
359
360		<p class='crt'><span class="crtprompt"> $magick&gt; </span><span class='crtin'>convert '*.jpg[120x120+10+5]' thumbnail%03d.png</span></p>
361		</div>
362
363	<h3>Filename References</h3>
364		<div class="doc-section">
365		<p>There are two methods to use a filename to reference other image filenames.
366		The first is with '<kbd>@</kbd>' which reads image filenames from the specified file.  Assume the file <kbd>myimages.txt</kbd> consists of a list of filenames, like so:
367		</p>
368
369		<p class="text">
370		  frame001.jpg  <br/>
371		  frame002.jpg  <br/>
372		  frame003.jpg  <br/>
373
374		</p>
375
376		<p>Then with the following command, ImageMagick reads the images <kbd>image-1.jpg</kbd>, <kbd>image-2.jpg</kbd>, and <kbd>image-3.jpg</kbd>.  </p>
377
378		<p class='crt'><span class="crtprompt"> $magick&gt; </span><span class='crtin'>convert @myimages.txt mymovie.gif</span></p>
379    <p>Some ImageMagick command-line options may exceed the capabilities of
380your command line processor.  Windows, for example, limits command lines
381to 8192 characters.  If, for example, you have a draw option with polygon
382points that exceed the command-line length limit, put the draw option instead
383in a file and reference the file with
384the <kbd>@</kbd> (e.g. <kbd>@mypoly.txt</kbd>).</p>
385
386		<p>Another method of referring to other image files is by
387embedding a formatting character in the filename with a scene range.  Consider
388the filename <kbd>image-%d.jpg[1-5]</kbd>. The command</p>
389
390		<p class='crt'><span class="crtprompt"> $magick&gt; </span><span class='crtin'>convert image-%d.jpg[1-5]</span></p>
391		<p>causes ImageMagick to attempt to read images with these filenames:
392		</p>
393
394		<p class="text">
395		  image-1.jpg <br/>
396		  image-2.jpg <br/>
397		  image-3.jpg <br/>
398		  image-4.jpg <br/>
399		  image-5.jpg
400		</p>
401
402		</div>
403</div>
404
405
406<h2><a name="setting"></a>Image Setting</h2>
407<div class="doc-section">
408
409<p>An image setting persists as it appears on the command line and may affect
410subsequent processing such as reading an image, an image operator, or when
411writing an image as appropriate.  An image setting stays in effect until it
412is reset or the command line terminates.  The image settings include:</p>
413
414<p class="options">
415<a href="/www/command-line-options.html#adjoin">&#x2011;adjoin</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#affine">&#x2011;affine</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#alpha">&#x2011;alpha</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#antialias">&#x2011;antialias</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#authenticate">&#x2011;authenticate</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#background">&#x2011;background</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#bias">&#x2011;bias</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#black-point-compensation">&#x2011;black&#x2011;point&#x2011;compensation</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#blue-primary">&#x2011;blue&#x2011;primary</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#bordercolor">&#x2011;bordercolor</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#caption">&#x2011;caption</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#channel">&#x2011;channel</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#comment">&#x2011;comment</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#compress">&#x2011;compress</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#debug">&#x2011;debug</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#define">&#x2011;define</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#delay">&#x2011;delay</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#density">&#x2011;density</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#depth">&#x2011;depth</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#direction">&#x2011;direction</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#display">&#x2011;display</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#dispose">&#x2011;dispose</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#dither">&#x2011;dither</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#encoding">&#x2011;encoding</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#endian">&#x2011;endian</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#extract">&#x2011;extract</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#family">&#x2011;family</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#fill">&#x2011;fill</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#filter">&#x2011;filter</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#font">&#x2011;font</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#format">&#x2011;format</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#fuzz">&#x2011;fuzz</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#geometry">&#x2011;geometry</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#gravity">&#x2011;gravity</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#green-primary">&#x2011;green&#x2011;primary</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#interlace">&#x2011;interlace</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#intent">&#x2011;intent</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#interpolate">&#x2011;interpolate</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#label">&#x2011;label</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#limit">&#x2011;limit</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#linewidth">&#x2011;linewidth</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#log">&#x2011;log</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#loop">&#x2011;loop</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#mask">&#x2011;mask</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#mattecolor">&#x2011;mattecolor</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#monitor">&#x2011;monitor</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#orient">&#x2011;orient</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#page">&#x2011;page</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#pointsize">&#x2011;pointsize</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#preview">&#x2011;preview</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#quality">&#x2011;quality</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#quiet">&#x2011;quiet</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#red-primary">&#x2011;red&#x2011;primary</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#region">&#x2011;region</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#render">&#x2011;render</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#repage">&#x2011;repage</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#sampling-factor">&#x2011;sampling&#x2011;factor</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#scene">&#x2011;scene</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#seed">&#x2011;seed</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#size">&#x2011;size</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#stretch">&#x2011;stretch</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#stroke">&#x2011;stroke</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#strokewidth">&#x2011;strokewidth</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#style">&#x2011;style</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#texture">&#x2011;texture</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#tile">&#x2011;tile</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#transparent-color">&#x2011;transparent&#x2011;color</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#treedepth">&#x2011;treedepth</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#type">&#x2011;type</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#undercolor">&#x2011;undercolor</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#units">&#x2011;units</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#verbose">&#x2011;verbose</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#virtual-pixel">&#x2011;virtual&#x2011;pixel</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#weight">&#x2011;weight</a> </p>
416
417<p>In this example, <em class="arg">-channel</em> applies to each of the images, since, as we mentioned, settings persist:
418</p>
419
420<p class='crt'><span class="crtprompt"> $magick&gt; </span><span class='crtin'>convert -channel RGB wand.png wizard.png images.png</span></p>
421</div>
422
423<h2><a name="operator"></a>Image Operator</h2>
424<div class="doc-section">
425
426<p>An image operator differs from a setting in that it affects the image
427immediately as it appears on the command line.  An operator is
428any <a href="/script../www/command-line-options.html">command line option</a>
429not listed as a <a href="#setting">image setting</a>
430or <a href="#sequence">image sequence operator</a>.  Unlike an
431image setting, which persists until the command line terminates,
432an operator is applied to an image and forgotten.  The image operators
433include:</p>
434
435<p class="options">
436<a href="/www/command-line-options.html#annotate">&#x2011;annotate</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#black-threshold">&#x2011;black&#x2011;threshold</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#blur">&#x2011;blur</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#border">&#x2011;border</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#charcoal">&#x2011;charcoal</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#chop">&#x2011;chop</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#clip">&#x2011;clip</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#clip-path">&#x2011;clip&#x2011;path</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#clip-mask">&#x2011;clip&#x2011;mask</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#colors">&#x2011;colors</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#colorize">&#x2011;colorize</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#colorspace">&#x2011;colorspace</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#compose">&#x2011;compose</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#contrast">&#x2011;contrast</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#convolve">&#x2011;convolve</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#crop">&#x2011;crop</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#cycle">&#x2011;cycle</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#despeckle">&#x2011;despeckle</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#draw">&#x2011;draw</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#edge">&#x2011;edge</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#emboss">&#x2011;emboss</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#enhance">&#x2011;enhance</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#equalize">&#x2011;equalize</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#evaluate">&#x2011;evaluate</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#extent">&#x2011;extent</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#flip">&#x2011;flip</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#flop">&#x2011;flop</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#floodfill">&#x2011;floodfill</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#frame">&#x2011;frame</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#gamma">&#x2011;gamma</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#gaussian-blur">&#x2011;gaussian&#x2011;blur</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#implode">&#x2011;implode</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#lat">&#x2011;lat</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#level">&#x2011;level</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#map">&#x2011;map</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#median">&#x2011;median</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#modulate">&#x2011;modulate</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#monochrome">&#x2011;monochrome</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#negate">&#x2011;negate</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#noise">&#x2011;noise</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#normalize">&#x2011;normalize</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#opaque">&#x2011;opaque</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#ordered-dither">&#x2011;ordered&#x2011;dither</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#paint">&#x2011;paint</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#posterize">&#x2011;posterize</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#raise">&#x2011;raise</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#profile">&#x2011;profile</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#radial-blur">&#x2011;radial&#x2011;blur</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#raise">&#x2011;raise</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#random-threshold">&#x2011;random&#x2011;threshold</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#resample">&#x2011;resample</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#resize">&#x2011;resize</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#roll">&#x2011;roll</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#rotate">&#x2011;rotate</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#sample">&#x2011;sample</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#scale">&#x2011;scale</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#sepia-tone">&#x2011;sepia&#x2011;tone</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#segment">&#x2011;segment</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#shade">&#x2011;shade</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#shadow">&#x2011;shadow</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#sharpen">&#x2011;sharpen</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#shave">&#x2011;shave</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#shear">&#x2011;shear</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#sigmoidal-contrast">&#x2011;sigmoidal&#x2011;contrast</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#solarize">&#x2011;solarize</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#splice">&#x2011;splice</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#spread">&#x2011;spread</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#strip">&#x2011;strip</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#swirl">&#x2011;swirl</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#threshold">&#x2011;threshold</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#transparent">&#x2011;transparent</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#thumbnail">&#x2011;thumbnail</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#tint">&#x2011;tint</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#transform">&#x2011;transform</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#trim">&#x2011;trim</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#unsharp">&#x2011;unsharp</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#version">&#x2011;version</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#wave">&#x2011;wave</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#white-point">&#x2011;white&#x2011;point</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#white-threshold">&#x2011;white&#x2011;threshold</a> </p>
437
438<p>In this example, <em class="arg">-negate</em> negates the wand image but not the wizard:</p>
439
440<p class='crt'><span class="crtprompt"> $magick&gt; </span><span class='crtin'>convert wand.png -negate wizard.png images.png</span></p></div>
441
442<h2><a name="sequence"></a>Image Sequence Operator</h2>
443<div class="doc-section">
444
445<p>An image sequence operator differs from a setting in that it affects an
446image sequence immediately as it appears on the command line.  Choose from
447these image sequence operators:</p>
448
449<p class="options">
450<a href="/www/command-line-options.html#append">&#x2011;append</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#affinity">&#x2011;affinity</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#average">&#x2011;average</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#clut">&#x2011;clut</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#coalesce">&#x2011;coalesce</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#combine">&#x2011;combine</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#composite">&#x2011;composite</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#crop">&#x2011;crop</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#debug">&#x2011;debug</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#deconstruct">&#x2011;deconstruct</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#delete">&#x2011;delete</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#evaluate-seqence">&#x2011;evaluate&#x2011;seqence</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#fft">&#x2011;fft</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#flatten">&#x2011;flatten</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#fx">&#x2011;fx</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#hald-clut">&#x2011;hald&#x2011;clut</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#ift">&#x2011;ift</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#identify">&#x2011;identify</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#insert">&#x2011;insert</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#layers">&#x2011;layers</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#limit">&#x2011;limit</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#map">&#x2011;map</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#maximum">&#x2011;maximum</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#minimum">&#x2011;minimum</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#morph">&#x2011;morph</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#mosaic">&#x2011;mosaic</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#optimize">&#x2011;optimize</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#print">&#x2011;print</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#process">&#x2011;process</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#quiet">&#x2011;quiet</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#separate">&#x2011;separate</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#swap">&#x2011;swap</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#write">&#x2011;write</a> </p>
451</div>
452
453<h2><a name="geometry"></a>Image Geometry</h2>
454<div class="doc-section">
455
456<p>Many command-line options take a <em class="arg">geometry</em> argument
457to specify such things as the desired width and height of an image and other
458dimensional quantities. Because users want so many variations on the resulting
459dimensions, sizes, and positions of images (and because ImageMagick wants to
460provide them), the <em class="arg">geometry</em> argument can take many
461forms. We describe many of these in this section. </p>
462
463<p>The image options and settings that take some form of
464a <em class="arg">geometry</em> argument include the following.
465Keep in mind that some of these parse their arguments in slightly
466different ways. See the documentation for the individual option or
467setting for more specifics.</p>
468
469<p class="options" style="text-align:justify">
470<a href="/www/command-line-options.html#adaptive-resize">&#x2011;adaptive&#x2011;resize</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#border">&#x2011;border</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#borderwidth">&#x2011;borderwidth</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#chop">&#x2011;chop</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#crop">&#x2011;crop</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#density">&#x2011;density</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#extent">&#x2011;extent</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#extract">&#x2011;extract</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#frame">&#x2011;frame</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#geometry">&#x2011;geometry</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#iconGeometry">&#x2011;iconGeometry</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#liquid-rescale">&#x2011;liquid&#x2011;rescale</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#page">&#x2011;page</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#region">&#x2011;region</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#repage">&#x2011;repage</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#resize">&#x2011;resize</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#sample">&#x2011;sample</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#scale">&#x2011;scale</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#shave">&#x2011;shave</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#splice">&#x2011;splice</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#thumbnail">&#x2011;thumbnail</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#window">&#x2011;window</a> </p>
471
472<p>The <em class="arg">geometry</em> argument might take any of the forms listed in the table below. These will described in more detail in the subsections following the table. The usual form is <em class="arg">size</em>[<em class="arg">offset</em>], meaning <em class="arg">size</em> is required and <em class="arg">offset</em> is optional. Occasionally, [<em class="arg">size</em>]<em class="arg">offset</em> is possible. In no cases are spaces permitted within the <em class="arg">geometry</em> argument.</p>
473
474
475<table id="geometryTable" class="doc">
476  <col width="20%"/> <col width="80%"/>
477  <thead>
478  <tr valign="top">
479    <th style="text-align:center"><em class="arg">size</em></th>
480    <th>General description (actual behavior can vary for different options and settings)</th>
481  </tr>
482  </thead>
483  <tbody>
484  <tr valign="top">
485    <td><em class="arg">scale</em>%</td>
486    <td>Height and width both scaled by specified percentage.</td>
487  </tr>
488  <tr valign="top">
489    <td><em class="arg">scale-x</em>%x<em class="arg">scale-y</em>%</td>
490    <td>Height and width individually scaled by specified percentages. (Only one % symbol needed.)</td>
491  </tr>
492  <tr valign="top">
493    <td><em class="arg">width</em></td>
494    <td>Width given, height automagically selected to preserve aspect ratio.</td>
495  </tr>
496  <tr valign="top">
497    <td>x<em class="arg">height</em></td>
498    <td>Height given, width automagically selected to preserve aspect ratio.</td>
499  </tr>
500  <tr valign="top">
501    <td><em class="arg">width</em>x<em class="arg">height</em></td>
502    <td>Maximum values of height and width given, aspect ratio preserved.</td>
503  </tr>
504  <tr valign="top">
505    <td><em class="arg">width</em>x<em class="arg">height</em>^</td>
506    <td>Minimum values of width and height given, aspect ratio preserved.</td>
507  </tr>
508  <tr valign="top">
509    <td><em class="arg">width</em>x<em class="arg">height</em>!</td>
510    <td>Width and height emphatically given, original aspect ratio ignored.</td>
511  </tr>
512  <tr valign="top">
513    <td><em class="arg">width</em>x<em class="arg">height</em>&gt;</td>
514    <td>Change as per <em class="arg">width</em>x<em class="arg">height</em> but only if an image dimension exceeds a specified dimension.</td>
515  </tr>
516  <tr valign="top">
517    <td><em class="arg">width</em>x<em class="arg">height</em>&lt;</td>
518    <td>Change dimensions only if both image dimensions exceed specified dimensions.</td>
519  </tr>
520  <tr valign="top">
521    <td><em class="arg">area</em>@</td>
522    <td>Resize image to have specified area in pixels. Aspect ratio is preserved.</td>
523  </tr>
524  </tbody>
525  </table>
526  <table class="doc">
527    <col width="20%"/> <col width="80%"/>
528  <thead>
529  <tr valign="top">
530    <th style="text-align:center">{<em class="arg">size</em>}{<em class="arg">offset</em>}</th>
531    <th>Specifying the <em class="arg">offset</em> (default is <kbd>+0+0</kbd>). Below, {<em class="arg">size</em>} refers to any of the forms above.</th>
532  </tr>
533  </thead>
534
535  <tbody>
536  <tr valign="top">
537    <td>{<em class="arg">size</em>}{<em class="arg">+-</em>}<em class="arg">x</em>{<em class="arg">+-</em>}<em class="arg">y</em></td>
538    <td>Horizontal and vertical offsets <em class="arg">x</em> and <em class="arg">y</em>, specified in pixels. Signs are required for both. Offsets are affected by <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#gravity">&#x2011;gravity</a> setting. Offsets are not affected by <kbd>%</kbd> or other <em class="arg">size</em> operators.</td>
539  </tr>
540  </tbody>
541</table>
542
543
544<h3>Basic adjustments to width and height; the operators <kbd>%</kbd>, <kbd>^</kbd>, and <kbd>!</kbd> </h3>
545	<div class="doc-section">
546	<p>Here, just below, are a few simple examples of <em class="arg">geometry</em>, showing how it might be used as an argument to the <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#resize">&#x2011;resize</a> option. We'll use the internal image <kbd>logo:</kbd> for our input image.
547	<a href="/images/logo-fullsize.png">
548	This fine image</a> is 640&nbsp;pixels wide and 480&nbsp;pixels high. We say its <em>dimensions</em> are 640x480. When we give dimensions of an image, the width (the horizontal dimension) always precedes the height (the vertical dimension). This will be true when we speak of coordinates or <em>offsets</em> into an image, which will always be <em>x</em>&ndash;value followed by&nbsp;<em>y</em>. Just think of your high school algebra classes and the <em>xy</em>&ndash;plane. (Well, almost: our <em>y</em>&ndash;axis will always go downward!)
549	</p>
550
551	<p class='crt'><span class="crtprompt"> $magick&gt; </span><span class='crtin'>convert logo: -resize '200%' bigWiz.png</span></p>
552	<p class='crt'><span class="crtprompt"> $magick&gt; </span><span class='crtin'>convert logo: -resize '200x50%' longShortWiz.png</span></p>
553	<p class='crt'><span class="crtprompt"> $magick&gt; </span><span class='crtin'>convert logo: -resize '100x200' notThinWiz.png</span></p>
554	<p class='crt'><span class="crtprompt"> $magick&gt; </span><span class='crtin'>convert logo: -resize '100x200^' biggerNotThinWiz.png</span></p>
555	<p class='crt'><span class="crtprompt"> $magick&gt; </span><span class='crtin'>convert logo: -resize '100x200!' dochThinWiz.png</span></p>
556
557	<p>The first of the four commands is simple&mdash;it stretches both the width and height of the input image by <kbd>200%</kbd> in each direction; it magnifies the whole thing by a factor of two. The second command specifies different percentages for each direction, stretching the width to&nbsp;<kbd>200</kbd>% and squashing the height to&nbsp;<kbd>50%</kbd>. The resulting image (in this example) has dimensions 1280x240. Notice that the percent symbol needn't be repeated; the following are equivalent: <kbd>200x50%</kbd>, <kbd>200%x50</kbd>, <kbd>200%x50%</kbd>.
558	</p>
559
560	<p>By default, the width and height given in a <em class="arg">geometry</em> argument are <em>maximum</em> values unless a percentage is specified. That is, the image is expanded or contracted to fit the specified width and height value while maintaining the <em>aspect ratio</em> (the ratio of its height to its width) of the image. For instance, the third command above "tries" to set the dimensions to <kbd>100x200</kbd>. Imagine gradually shrinking the original image (which is 640x480), keeping is aspect ratio constant, until it just fits into a 100x200 rectangle. Since the image is longer than it is tall, it will fit when its width shrinks to&nbsp;100 pixels. To preserve the aspect ratio, the height will therefore have to be (480/640)&times;100&nbsp;pixels=75&nbsp;pixels, so the final dimensions will be 100x75.</p>
561
562	<p> Notice that in the previous example, at least one of the specified dimensions will be attained (in this case, the width, 100&nbsp;pixels). The resulting image fits snugly within the original. One can do just the opposite of this by invoking the <kbd>^</kbd>&nbsp;operator, as in the fourth example above. In that case, when <kbd>100x200^</kbd> is given as the argument, again at least one of the dimensions will be attained, but in this case the resulting image can snugly contain the original. Here the <em class="arg">geometry</em> argument gives <em>minimum</em> values. In our example, the height will become 200 and the width will be scaled to preserve the aspect ratio, becoming (640/480)&times;200&nbsp;pixels=267&nbsp;pixels. With the <kbd>^</kbd>&nbsp;operator, one of those dimensions will match the requested size, but the image will likely overflow the dimensions requested to preserve its aspect ratio. (The <kbd>^</kbd> feature is new as of IM&nbsp;6.3.8-2.)</p>
563
564	<p>We see that ImageMagick is very good about preserving aspect ratios of images, to prevent distortion of your favorite photos and images. But you might really want the dimensions to be <kbd>100x200</kbd>, thereby stretching the image. In this case just tell ImageMagick you really mean it (!) by appending an exclamation operator to the geometry. This will force the image size to exactly what you specify. So, for example, if you specify <kbd>100x200!</kbd> the dimensions will become exactly 100x200 (giving a small, vertically elongated wizard).</p>
565	</div>
566
567<h3>Bounding the width, height, and area; the operators <kbd>&gt;</kbd>, <kbd>&lt;</kbd>, and <kbd>@</kbd> </h3>
568<div class="doc-section">
569	<p>
570	Here are a few more examples:
571	</p>
572
573	<p class='crt'><span class="crtprompt"> $magick&gt; </span><span class='crtin'>convert logo: -resize '100' wiz1.png</span></p>
574	<p class='crt'><span class="crtprompt"> $magick&gt; </span><span class='crtin'>convert logo: -resize 'x200' wiz2.png</span></p>
575	<p class='crt'><span class="crtprompt"> $magick&gt; </span><span class='crtin'>convert logo: -resize '100x200&gt;' wiz3.png</span></p>
576	<p class='crt'><span class="crtprompt"> $magick&gt; </span><span class='crtin'>convert logo: -resize '100x200&lt;' wiz4.png</span></p>
577	<p>If only one dimension is given it is taken to be the width. When only the width is specified, as in the first example above, the width is accepted as given and the height is chosen to maintain the aspect ratio of the input image. Similarly, if only the height is specified, as in the second example above, the height is accepted and the width is chosen to maintain the aspect ratio.</p>
578
579
580	<p>Use <kbd>&gt;</kbd> to change the dimensions of the image <em>only</em> if the original width or height is exeeded by one of the <em class="arg">geometry</em> specifications. Use <kbd>&lt;</kbd> to resize the image <em>only</em> if the original dimensions are more than the <em class="arg">geometry</em> specifications.  In either case, if a change is made, the result is as if the <kbd>&gt;</kbd> or <kbd>&gt;</kbd> operator was not present. So, in the third example above, we specified <kbd>100x200&gt;</kbd> and the original image size is 640x480, so the image size is reduced as if we had specified <kbd>100x200</kbd>. However, in the fourth example above, there will be no change to its size.</p>
581
582	<p>Finally, use <kbd>@</kbd> to specify the maximum area in pixels of an image, again while attempting to preserve aspect ratio. (Pixels take only integer values, so some approximation is always at work.) In the following example, an area of 10000&nbsp;pixels is requested. The resulting file has dimensions 115x86, which has 9890&nbsp;pixels. </p>
583
584	<p class='crt'><span class="crtprompt"> $magick&gt; </span><span class='crtin'>convert logo: -resize '@10000' wiz10000.png</span></p>
585	<p class="warn">Another word about the quotation marks: In all the examples above and below, we have enclosed the <em class="arg">geometry</em> arguments  within quotation marks. Doing so is optional in many cases, but not always. We <em>must</em> enclose the geometry specifications in quotation marks when using <kbd>&lt;</kbd> or <kbd>&gt;</kbd> to prevent these characters from being interpreted by the shell as <em>file redirection</em>. On Windows systems, the carat <kbd>^</kbd>&nbsp; needs to be within quotes, else it is ignored. To be safe, one should probably maintain a habit of enclosing all <em class="arg">geometry</em> arguments in quotes, as we have here.
586	</p>
587	</div>
588
589<h3>Offsets in geometry</h3>
590<div class="doc-section">
591	<p>
592	Here are some examples to illustrate the use of <em>offsets</em> in <em class="arg">geometry</em> arguments. One typical use of offsets is in conjunction with the
593	<a href="/www/command-line-options.html#region">&#x2011;region</a> option. This option allows many other options to modify the pixels within a specified rectangular subregion of an image. As such, it needs to be given the width and height of that region, and also an <em>offset</em> into the image, which is a pair of coordinates that indicate the location of the region within the larger image. Below, in the first example, we specify a region of size <kbd>100x200</kbd> to be located at the <em>xy</em>&ndash;coordinates <em>x</em>=10,&nbsp;<em>y</em>=20. Let's use the usual algebraic notation (<em>x</em>,<em>y</em>)=(10,20), for convenience.
594	</p>
595
596	<p class='crt'><span class="crtprompt"> $magick&gt; </span><span class='crtin'>convert logo: -region '100x200+10+20' -negate wizNeg1.png</span></p>
597	<p class='crt'><span class="crtprompt"> $magick&gt; </span><span class='crtin'>convert logo: -region '100x200-10+20' -negate wizNeg2.png</span></p>
598	<p class='crt'><span class="crtprompt"> $magick&gt; </span><span class='crtin'>convert logo: -gravity center -region '100x200-10+20' \ <br/> -negate wizNeg3.png</span></p>
599
600	<p>Note that offsets always require +/&minus; signs. The offset is not actually a true location within the image; its coordinates must be added to some other location. Let's refer to that as the <em>current location</em>. In the first two examples above, though, that location is the upper-left hand corner of the image, which has coordinates (0,0). (That is the default situation when there are no other directives given to change it.) The first example above puts the <kbd>100x200</kbd> rectangle's own upper-left corner at (10,20). </p>
601
602	<p>A negative offset can make sense in many cases. In the second example above, the offset is (-10,20), specified by <kbd>-10+20</kbd>. In that case, only the portion of the (virtual) rectangle obtained that lies within the image can be negated; here it is equivalent to specifying the geometry as <kbd>90x200+0+20</kbd>.</p>
603
604	<p>In the third example above, the <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#gravity">&#x2011;gravity</a> setting precedes the others and sets the current location within the image at the very center of the image. In this case that is at pixel&nbsp;(320,240), since the size of the image is 640x480. This means that the offsets apply to that location, which thereby gets moved, in this case, to (320-10,240+20)=(310,260). But the <kbd>100x200</kbd> region itself is affected by the <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#gravity">&#x2011;gravity</a> setting, so instead of affecting its upper-left corner, the region's own center (at (+50,+100) within it) is determined. Therefore the center of the <kbd>100x200</kbd> rectangle is moved to (310,260). The negated rectangle's upper-left corner is now at (310-50,260-100)=(260,160).
605	</p>
606	</div>
607</div>
608
609
610<h2><a name="stack"></a>Image Stack</h2>
611<div class="doc-section">
612
613<p>In school, your teacher probably permitted you to work on problems on a scrap of paper and then copy the results to your test paper.  An image stack is similar.  It permits you to work on an image or image sequence in isolation and subsequently introduce the results back into the command line.  The image stack is delineated with parenthesis.  Image operators only affect images in the current stack.  For example, we can limit the image rotation to just the wizard image like this:</p>
614
615<p class='crt'><span class="crtprompt"> $magick&gt; </span><span class='crtin'>convert wand.gif \( wizard.gif -rotate 30 \) +append images.gif</span></p>
616
617<p class="warn">Notice again that the  parentheses are <em>escaped</em> by preceding them with
618backslashes.  This is required under Unix, where parentheses are special
619<em>shell</em> characters.  The backslash tells the shell not to interpret
620these characters, but to pass them directly to the command being executed. Do
621not escape the parentheses under Windows. Each parenthesis (or escaped
622parenthesis) must have spaces on either side, as in the example shown
623above.</p>
624
625<p>In addition to the image operators already discussed, the following image operators are most useful when processing images in an image stack:</p>
626
627<p class="options">
628<span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span>
629<a href="/www/command-line-options.html#clone">&#x2011;clone</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#delete">&#x2011;delete</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#insert">&#x2011;insert</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span> <a href="/www/command-line-options.html#swap">&#x2011;swap</a> <span class='bull'>&nbsp;&bull; </span>
630</p>
631
632<p>The arguments to these operators are indexes into the image sequence by number, starting with zero, for the first image, and so on. However if you give a negative index, the images are indexed from the end (last image added). That is, an index of -1 is the last image in the current image sequence, -2 gives the second-to-last, and so on.</p>
633
634</div> <!-- end Image Stack section -->
635
636<h2><a name="output"></a>Output Filename</h2>
637<div class="doc-section">
638
639<p>ImageMagick extends the concept of an output filename to include:</p>
640
641<ol>
642<li>an explicit image format</li>
643<li>write to <em>standard out</em></li>
644<li>filename references</li>
645</ol>
646
647<p>Each of these extensions are explained in the next few paragraphs.</p>
648
649	<h3>Explicit Image Format</h3>
650	<div class="doc-section">
651	  <p>Images can be stored in a mryiad of image formats including the better known JPEG, PNG, TIFF and others.  ImageMagick must know the desired format of the image before it is written.  ImageMagick leverages the filename extension to determine the format.  For example, <kbd>image.jpg</kbd> tells ImageMagick to write the image in the JPEG format.  In some cases the filename does not identify the image format.  In these cases, the image is written in the format it was originally read unless an explicit image format is specified.  For example, suppose we want to write our image to a filename of <kbd>image</kbd> in the raw red, green, and blue intensity format:
652	  </p>
653
654	<p class='crt'><span class="crtprompt"> $magick&gt; </span><span class='crtin'>convert image.jpg rgb:image</span></p>
655	</div>
656
657	<h3>Standard Out</h3>
658	<div class="doc-section">
659	  <p>Unix permits the output of one command to be piped to another.  ImageMagick permits piping one command to another with a filename of <kbd>-</kbd>.  In this example we pipe the output of <a href="/www/convert.html">convert</a> to the <a href="/www/display.html">display</a> program:
660	  </p>
661
662	<p class='crt'><span class="crtprompt"> $magick&gt; </span><span class='crtin'>convert logo: gif:- | display gif:-</span></p>
663	<p>Here the explicit format is optional.  The GIF image format has a signature that uniquely identifies it so ImageMagick can readily recognize the format as GIF.
664	</p>
665	</div>
666
667	<h3>Filename References</h3>
668	<div class="doc-section">
669	<p>Optionally, use an embedded formatting character to write a sequential image list.  Suppose our output filename is <kbd>image-%d.jpg</kbd> and our image list includes 3 images.  You can expect these images files to be written:
670	</p>
671
672	<p class="text">
673		image-0.jpg <br/>
674		image-1.jpg <br/>
675		image-2.jpg
676	</p>
677
678	<p>Or retrieve image properties to modify the image filename.  For example, the command
679	</p>
680
681	<p class='crt'><span class="crtprompt"> $magick&gt; </span><span class='crtin'>convert rose: -set filename:area '%wx%h' \ <br/> 'rose-%[filename:area].png'</span></p>
682	<p>writes an image with this filename:
683	</p>
684
685	<p class="text">
686		rose-70x46.png
687	</p>
688
689	</div>
690
691</div> <!-- end Output Filename section -->
692
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