colorthief vs node-vibrant
Color Extraction Libraries Comparison
1 Year
colorthiefnode-vibrantSimilar Packages:
What's Color Extraction Libraries?

Color extraction libraries are tools designed to analyze images and extract prominent colors, enabling developers to create visually appealing applications by utilizing color palettes derived from images. These libraries facilitate the process of color selection and can enhance user interfaces by ensuring that colors are harmonious and visually engaging. They are particularly useful in applications where branding, design consistency, and aesthetic appeal are crucial.

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colorthief102,62613,160564 kB759 months agoMIT
node-vibrant86,1492,25920.1 kB215 months agoMIT
Feature Comparison: colorthief vs node-vibrant

Color Extraction Method

  • colorthief:

    ColorThief uses a simple algorithm to analyze an image and extract the most dominant color and a palette of colors. It employs a median cut algorithm to reduce the number of colors in the image, making it efficient for quick color extraction without significant overhead.

  • node-vibrant:

    Node-Vibrant utilizes a more sophisticated color quantization algorithm based on the k-means clustering method. This allows it to generate a vibrant color palette that includes the most dominant colors, ensuring a richer representation of the image's color profile.

Performance

  • colorthief:

    ColorThief is designed for performance and efficiency, making it suitable for real-time applications. It operates quickly and requires minimal processing power, which is beneficial for web applications that need to extract colors on-the-fly without noticeable delays.

  • node-vibrant:

    Node-Vibrant may require more processing time due to its complex algorithms, especially for larger images. However, it provides a more detailed color analysis, which can be worth the trade-off in performance for applications that prioritize color accuracy and richness.

Output Format

  • colorthief:

    ColorThief returns a single dominant color in RGB format along with an array of palette colors. This straightforward output is easy to use and integrate into applications without additional processing.

  • node-vibrant:

    Node-Vibrant returns a detailed palette of colors, including vibrant, muted, dark, and light colors, each represented in RGB format. This allows developers to select from a broader range of colors for various design needs.

Ease of Use

  • colorthief:

    ColorThief is very easy to implement with a simple API. It requires minimal setup and can be used with just a few lines of code, making it ideal for developers looking for a quick solution.

  • node-vibrant:

    Node-Vibrant has a slightly more complex API due to its additional features, but it is still user-friendly. Developers may need to familiarize themselves with its options to fully leverage its capabilities.

Use Cases

  • colorthief:

    ColorThief is perfect for applications that need to quickly extract colors for UI elements, such as background colors or theme colors based on user-uploaded images. It is also suitable for generating color schemes for design tools.

  • node-vibrant:

    Node-Vibrant is ideal for applications that require detailed color analysis, such as image editing software, design applications, or any project where color accuracy and variety are essential for user experience.

How to Choose: colorthief vs node-vibrant
  • colorthief:

    Choose ColorThief if you need a simple and lightweight solution for extracting dominant colors from images. It is particularly effective for generating a single dominant color or a palette of colors from a single image, making it ideal for quick implementations where performance is a priority.

  • node-vibrant:

    Choose Node-Vibrant if you require a more comprehensive color extraction solution that provides detailed color palettes and additional features such as color quantization. It is suitable for projects that need a richer set of color data and can handle more complex image processing tasks.

README for colorthief

Color Thief

Grab the color palette from an image using just Javascript.Works in the browser and in Node.

View the demo page for examples, API docs, and more.


Contributing

Project structure

  • build/ - Simple script that copies and renames files into the /dist folder.
  • cypress/ - Browsers tests.
  • dist/ - Generated distribution files created by microbundle package and a couple of files copied via build script.
  • examples/ - CSS, JS, and Images for the index.html example page.
  • src/color-thief-node.js - Source for the Node (commonjs) compatible version of the script.
  • src/color-thief.js - Source for the browser (ES6, AMD, Global var) compatible version of the script.
  • src/core.js - Functions shared between the node and browser versions of the script.
  • test/ - Node integration tests. Uses Chai.
  • index.html - Example page.

Running tests

There are two sets of tests:

  1. Browser tests run with Cypress
  2. Node tests run with Karma and Mocha

To run both the browser and Node tests:

  • npm run dev to start local server.
  • npm run test then run tests in a separate process

To run just the browser tests with the Cypress UI:

  • npm run dev to start local server
  • npm run test:browser or
  • npm run cypress to view the Cypress UI

To run just the Node tests:

  • npm run test:node

Adding tests

  • Update cypress/test-pages/index.html as needed or create a new test page if you need new examples.
  • Add new tests in cypress/integration/apis_spec.js

Making a new release

  • Merge dev into master
  • Pull down master
  • Update version number in src/color-thief.js and package.json
  • Delete package-lock.json and then install deps
  • Run npm run build
  • Confirm tests pass npm run dev and npm run test
  • Commit and push built files back up to master
  • Create a new Github release along with tag. Naming convention for both v2.8.1
  • npm publish