Updated March 29, 2023
Introduction to Imagemagick version
The following articles provide an outline for the Imagemagick version. The open-source software that works in any platform for editing and creating raster images is called Imagemagick, where it can manage over 200 raster images at a time. The software and its components are used in many platforms as it is open source to edit raster images. It is good to create an account in Imagemagick and reduce risks as there can be bugs if the user account is not created. User account minimizes risks by giving fewer permissions to the account. Written in C language, Imagemagick is available in Python, where it edits the images dynamically in multiple formats required by the user.
Versions of Imagemagick
- Imagemagick was created in 1987 by John Cristy, where initially, it was used to convert 24-bit images to 8-bit images with fewer colors than its parent. It became a hit and was freely released to the public in 1990 August. However, after the initial release, there was reporting of bugs that the developers would fix occasionally, and hence there were many changes from the initial release. This made John Cristy release version 4.2.9 by the mid-1990s.
- Imagemagick version 5 was developed when the user interface was made more friendly to beginners. More scripts and algorithms were included in the user interface functionalities. Version 5 made users to transfer scripts and algorithms from other languages and use them in Imagemagick. Though Imagemagick was developed in C, the enhancements and modules were developed in C++, and it is called Magick++. Several functionalities such as module loader, file identification, and test suites were added to Imagemagick using C++.
- Imagemagick had changed its look and form in version 5. Going forward from version 5, a bug was found in the command line where if the users had many images to manage, it looks bulky and confusing. It became important to fix the command line as most users work with the command-line interface than the application’s user interface. The scripts used were mostly BASH and Perl that made necessary changes to the command line, which made the impossible possible by creating canvas in the command line interface. Initially, batch scripts were used that made the work easy in Windows, but it was difficult to use in Linux and other operating systems. So, windows batch scripts were modified to PHP scripts, and Bash scripts were introduced for other operating systems.
- Version 6 also made it possible to use any scripts on the command line interface comfortable for the users and make it work on the functionalities. This works only for a single image at a time, and the user must create the API if he/she is developing in their own scripting language. We can also generate scripts by inputting images into the application. We can generate a text file, and the application produces images of the same on the web page. This helps to download the images directly from the application. It should be noted that images have different formats and hence browser support is necessary to get the image in the desired format. Imagemagick changes the font to Arial or Times New Roman font without any warning if the required font is not present.
- Different versions of Imagemagick 6 saw changes in command line scripts mainly in the form of geometry, blurs, sharpening images, color changes, edging of images, and noise removal in the images. Furthermore, in addition to the C++ wrapper in Imagemagick, a .NET wrapper was provided in this version that helps users to make enhancements in their application either with C++ or .NET.
- We have only versions from 6 available on the website, which was released in 2015. Previous releases are archived, and version 6 are legacy releases that can either be kept by the user or updated to the newer version. We can download these versions from the index of the Imagemagick webpage and use it further for any document creation. The versions available are 6.5, 6.6, 6.7, 6.8, 6.9, and the subversions of the same are available for the users to download and use for raster image editing.
- Version 7 saw the advancement of version 6 with further evolutions in the scripting. The designs were improved further, and the version mainly focused on making RGBA raster images editing. Initially, only RGB images were supported in Imagemagick. This version also saw development in command-line interface support where if the required font is not available, a warning is shown before changing to Arial or Times font. This helped users to shift to any other fonts based on their requirements.
- In addition to RGBA images, CMYK and CMYKA images are also supported in newer versions of Imagemagick. For example, colorspaces and pixel channel support is provided in Imagemagick version 7 with any arbitrary images provided by the user, or the application takes an arbitrary version by itself. Hence, the support is provided to arbitrary Colorspaces where pixel channels are stored as floats, and hence the band values are rounded off, ignoring the error.
- We have both 64-bit and 32-bit versions for each release of Imagemagick. 7.0.10 version was released in January, and the most recent 7.1.0 was released in August. Whenever any bugs are found, new version updates are released by the Imagemagick team, making users work with the most recent updates always. Major updates come with the release change in numbers, and this change will be published on the website. If the user prefers to go with the older version, they can download the same from the website and use it without making any updates to the software. Changes in scripts and images can be made either via the command line or user interface so that image modifications and color addition can be done through commands without seeing the images.
The stand-alone menu is the only user interface present in Imagemagick that makes the work of users easy via the command-line interface. Source code of Imagemagick is present in GitHub, and it is important for the users to protect the software from vulnerabilities and use it safely for any kind of raster images.
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