gimp-inkscape
Installation
SKILL.md
GIMP + Inkscape + ImageMagick Image Skill
Local image creation and manipulation. No API calls, no cost, no internet required.
Decision Guide — Pick the Right Tool
| Task | Use | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Simple resize | ImageMagick | 10× faster than GIMP, one liner |
| Batch resize folder | ImageMagick mogrify | Purpose-built for batch |
| SVG → PNG | Inkscape | Vector quality, exact dimensions |
| Text overlay / watermark | ImageMagick | Reliable; GIMP Script-Fu text is flaky |
| Complex typography | Inkscape SVG | Pixel-perfect vector text |
| Format conversion | ImageMagick | One liner, handles WebP too |
| Compositing / layers | GIMP | Full layer control |
| Color correction | GIMP | Curves/levels more precise than IM |
| PNG compression | OptiPNG | Lossless, 20–50% savings |
| JPEG compression | jpegoptim | Lossless recompression |
| Metadata read/strip | ExifTool | The industry standard |
| GIF / animation | FFmpeg | Nothing else handles this |
| PDF → image | pdftoppm | Clean, DPI-controllable |
| Photo editing (advanced) | GIMP | Healing, clone stamp, curves |
Optional installs for two specific tasks
- Background removal:
pip install rembgthenrembg i input.png output.png - AI upscaling: Real-ESRGAN — significant quality boost over interpolation upscaling
ImageMagick — CLI Reference
Format conversion
convert input.png output.jpg
convert input.jpg output.webp
convert input.png -quality 92 output.jpg
Resize
# Exact dimensions (may distort)
convert input.jpg -resize 1200x630! output.jpg
# Fit within box (preserves aspect ratio)
convert input.jpg -resize 1200x630 output.jpg
# Fill and crop to exact dimensions (centered)
convert input.jpg -resize 1200x630^ -gravity Center -extent 1200x630 output.jpg
Batch resize entire folder (mogrify)
# Resize all JPEGs in place
mogrify -resize 800x600 /path/to/folder/*.jpg
# Resize and output to a different folder
mogrify -resize 800x600 -path /output/folder /input/folder/*.jpg
# Convert all PNGs to WebP
mogrify -format webp /path/to/folder/*.png
Text overlay / watermark
# Simple text in bottom-right corner
convert input.jpg \
-font DejaVu-Sans -pointsize 36 \
-fill white -annotate +20+40 "© ReshareAI" \
output.jpg
# Centered text with shadow
convert input.jpg \
-font DejaVu-Sans-Bold -pointsize 72 \
-fill black -annotate +202+302 "Headline" \
-fill white -annotate +200+300 "Headline" \
output.jpg
# Semi-transparent watermark tiled across image
convert input.jpg \
-font DejaVu-Sans -pointsize 48 -fill "rgba(255,255,255,0.3)" \
-gravity Center -annotate 30x30+0+0 "WATERMARK" \
output.jpg
Composite: place logo/image on top
# Place logo.png bottom-right with 10px padding
convert base.jpg \
logo.png \
-gravity SouthEast -geometry +10+10 \
-composite output.jpg
# Place with opacity
convert base.jpg \
\( logo.png -alpha set -channel Alpha -evaluate multiply 0.5 \) \
-gravity Center -composite output.jpg
Color adjustments
# Brightness / contrast
convert input.jpg -brightness-contrast 10x20 output.jpg
# Saturation
convert input.jpg -modulate 100,130,100 output.jpg
# Grayscale
convert input.jpg -colorspace Gray output.jpg
# Sharpen
convert input.jpg -unsharp 0x1 output.jpg
Get image info
identify input.jpg
identify -verbose input.jpg | grep -E "Geometry|Colorspace|Format|filesize"
ImageMagick — WebP
ImageMagick has the WebP delegate built in (confirmed on this system):
# PNG/JPEG → WebP
convert input.png -quality 85 output.webp
# WebP → PNG
convert input.webp output.png
# Batch convert all JPEGs to WebP
mogrify -format webp -quality 85 /path/to/folder/*.jpg
FFmpeg — GIF & Animation
Video → GIF
# Basic
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "fps=10,scale=800:-1" output.gif
# High quality (uses palette)
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "fps=12,scale=800:-1:flags=lanczos,palettegen" palette.png
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -i palette.png -vf "fps=12,scale=800:-1:flags=lanczos,paletteuse" output.gif
# Clip a section (start 5s, duration 3s)
ffmpeg -ss 5 -t 3 -i input.mp4 -vf "fps=10,scale=600:-1" output.gif
Extract frames from video
# Extract every frame as PNG
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 /output/frame_%04d.png
# Extract 1 frame per second
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf fps=1 /output/frame_%04d.png
# Extract a single frame at timestamp
ffmpeg -ss 00:00:05 -i input.mp4 -frames:v 1 output.png
Image sequence → video or GIF
# Frames → MP4
ffmpeg -framerate 24 -i frame_%04d.png -c:v libx264 output.mp4
# Frames → GIF
ffmpeg -framerate 10 -i frame_%04d.png output.gif
ExifTool — Metadata
Read metadata
exiftool input.jpg
exiftool -s input.jpg # short tag names
exiftool -ImageSize -DateTimeOriginal input.jpg # specific fields
Strip all metadata (privacy / pre-publish)
exiftool -all= input.jpg # strips in place (saves backup)
exiftool -all= -overwrite_original input.jpg # no backup
exiftool -all= -overwrite_original /folder/*.jpg # batch strip
Copy EXIF from one file to another
exiftool -TagsFromFile source.jpg target.jpg
Write metadata
exiftool -Artist="Ramon" -Copyright="© 2026 ReshareAI" input.jpg
exiftool -all= -overwrite_original -Artist="Ramon" /folder/*.jpg
OptiPNG — Lossless PNG Compression
# Optimize (overwrites in place, creates backup .bak)
optipng input.png
# No backup
optipng -o 7 input.png # -o 7 is max compression (slower)
# Output to new file
optipng -out output.png input.png
# Batch
optipng /path/to/folder/*.png
# Check savings without writing
optipng -simulate input.png
Typical savings: 20–50% file size reduction with zero quality loss.
jpegoptim — Lossless JPEG Compression
# Lossless optimization (in place)
jpegoptim input.jpg
# With target file size
jpegoptim --size=200k input.jpg
# Strip all metadata + optimize
jpegoptim --strip-all input.jpg
# Batch (folder)
jpegoptim /path/to/folder/*.jpg
# Batch with max quality floor
jpegoptim --max=90 /path/to/folder/*.jpg
Poppler — PDF → Image
# All pages → PNG at 150 DPI (output: file-000001.png, file-000002.png ...)
pdftoppm -r 150 -png input.pdf /output/page
# All pages → JPEG
pdftoppm -r 150 -jpeg input.pdf /output/page
# Single page (page 1 only)
pdftoppm -r 300 -png -f 1 -l 1 input.pdf /output/page
# High DPI for print-quality extraction
pdftoppm -r 300 -png input.pdf /output/page
Inkscape — CLI Reference
SVG → PNG export (exact dimensions)
inkscape input.svg \
--export-type=png \
--export-filename=output.png \
--export-width=1200 \
--export-height=630
Export specific layer
inkscape input.svg \
--export-type=png \
--export-filename=output.png \
--export-id=layer1 \
--export-id-only
SVG → PDF
inkscape input.svg --export-type=pdf --export-filename=output.pdf
Create SVG from scratch (write file, then export)
Write a .svg file using the Write tool, then export with Inkscape. SVG template:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<svg width="1200" height="630" viewBox="0 0 1200 630"
xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg">
<defs>
<linearGradient id="bg" x1="0%" y1="0%" x2="100%" y2="100%">
<stop offset="0%" style="stop-color:#4C1D95"/>
<stop offset="100%" style="stop-color:#1E1B4B"/>
</linearGradient>
</defs>
<rect width="1200" height="630" fill="url(#bg)"/>
<!-- Text renders perfectly — no hallucination like GIMP/FLUX -->
<text x="100" y="280"
font-family="Inter, Arial, sans-serif"
font-size="96" font-weight="700"
fill="white">BrandName</text>
<text x="100" y="360"
font-family="Inter, Arial, sans-serif"
font-size="32" fill="rgba(255,255,255,0.7)">Tagline goes here</text>
</svg>
GIMP — Script-Fu Batch Reference
Use GIMP for: compositing, color correction, photo editing, alpha channel work. For simple tasks prefer ImageMagick.
Resize to exact dimensions
gimp --no-interface --batch '(let* (
(image (car (gimp-file-load RUN-NONINTERACTIVE "/path/input.png" "input.png")))
(drawable (car (gimp-image-get-active-drawable image))))
(gimp-image-scale-full image 1200 630 INTERPOLATION-LINEAR)
(file-png-save RUN-NONINTERACTIVE image (car (gimp-image-get-active-drawable image))
"/path/output.png" "output.png" 0 9 1 1 1 1 1))
(gimp-quit 0)'
Scale then crop (fill mode — covers full canvas)
gimp --no-interface --batch '(let* (
(image (car (gimp-file-load RUN-NONINTERACTIVE "/path/input.jpg" "input.jpg")))
(w (car (gimp-image-width image)))
(h (car (gimp-image-height image)))
(target-w 1200) (target-h 630)
(scale (max (/ target-w w) (/ target-h h)))
(new-w (inexact->exact (round (* w scale))))
(new-h (inexact->exact (round (* h scale)))))
(gimp-image-scale-full image new-w new-h INTERPOLATION-LINEAR)
(gimp-image-crop image target-w target-h
(/ (- new-w target-w) 2) (/ (- new-h target-h) 2))
(file-png-save RUN-NONINTERACTIVE image (car (gimp-image-get-active-drawable image))
"/path/output.png" "output.png" 0 9 1 1 1 1 1))
(gimp-quit 0)'
Add semi-transparent colour overlay
gimp --no-interface --batch '(let* (
(image (car (gimp-file-load RUN-NONINTERACTIVE "/path/input.png" "input.png")))
(overlay (car (gimp-layer-new image
(car (gimp-image-width image))
(car (gimp-image-height image))
RGBA-IMAGE "overlay" 60 LAYER-MODE-NORMAL))))
(gimp-image-insert-layer image overlay 0 -1)
(gimp-context-set-foreground (list 0 0 0))
(gimp-edit-fill overlay FILL-FOREGROUND)
(file-png-save RUN-NONINTERACTIVE image (car (gimp-image-flatten image))
"/path/output.png" "output.png" 0 9 1 1 1 1 1))
(gimp-quit 0)'
Composite: place image B on top of image A
gimp --no-interface --batch '(let* (
(base (car (gimp-file-load RUN-NONINTERACTIVE "/path/base.png" "base.png")))
(overlay-img (car (gimp-file-load RUN-NONINTERACTIVE "/path/overlay.png" "overlay.png")))
(overlay-layer (car (gimp-layer-new-from-drawable
(car (gimp-image-get-active-drawable overlay-img)) base))))
(gimp-image-insert-layer base overlay-layer 0 -1)
(gimp-layer-set-offsets overlay-layer 50 50)
(file-png-save RUN-NONINTERACTIVE base (car (gimp-image-flatten base))
"/path/output.png" "output.png" 0 9 1 1 1 1 1))
(gimp-quit 0)'
Brightness / contrast / saturation
gimp --no-interface --batch '(let* (
(image (car (gimp-file-load RUN-NONINTERACTIVE "/path/input.jpg" "input.jpg")))
(drawable (car (gimp-image-get-active-drawable image))))
(gimp-brightness-contrast drawable 20 30)
(gimp-drawable-hue-saturation drawable HUE-RANGE-ALL 0 0 25 0)
(file-jpeg-save RUN-NONINTERACTIVE image drawable
"/path/output.jpg" "output.jpg" 0.92 0 0 0 "" 0 1 0 2 0))
(gimp-quit 0)'
Recommended Workflow: OG Image / Social Banner
- Write an SVG file (exact layout, text, colors) using the Write tool
- Export with Inkscape at target dimensions — text is pixel-perfect
- Optimize with OptiPNG before publishing
# Step 1: write /tmp/card.svg
# Step 2: export
inkscape /tmp/card.svg \
--export-type=png \
--export-filename=/output/og.png \
--export-width=1200 \
--export-height=630
# Step 3: optimize
optipng -o 5 /output/og.png
Tips
- Text accuracy: Inkscape SVG > ImageMagick
-annotate> GIMP Script-Fu (avoid for text) - Speed hierarchy: ImageMagick > GIMP for simple ops; GIMP wins for complex compositing
- GIMP
--no-interface— always end scripts with(gimp-quit 0) - Script-Fu paths must be absolute — no
~/shortcuts - GIMP opacity is 0–100 (integer), not 0.0–1.0
- Inkscape 1.1 uses
--export-type+--export-filename(older versions used--export-png) - ImageMagick
!suffix on geometry forces exact dimensions ignoring aspect ratio (1200x630!)