Which is Better Image Optimization Libraries?
sharp vs imagemin vs imagemin-pngquant vs imagemin-mozjpeg vs imagemin-webp vs gulp-imagemin vs pngquant
1 Year
sharpimageminimagemin-pngquantimagemin-mozjpegimagemin-webpgulp-imageminpngquantSimilar Packages:
What's Image Optimization Libraries?

Image optimization libraries are tools designed to reduce the file size of images without significantly affecting their quality. These libraries help improve web performance by decreasing load times and bandwidth usage, which is crucial for enhancing user experience and SEO. They provide various methods for compressing images, including lossy and lossless compression techniques, and support multiple image formats. By utilizing these libraries, developers can ensure that images are optimized for web use, leading to faster page loads and better overall performance.

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sharp6,155,39829,009503 kB1062 months agoApache-2.0
imagemin920,9555,5606.73 kB785 months agoMIT
imagemin-pngquant375,2913167.28 kB155 months agoMIT
imagemin-mozjpeg356,7122517.29 kB243 years agoMIT
imagemin-webp186,6294966.18 kB202 years agoMIT
gulp-imagemin93,1641,9018.17 kB265 months agoMIT
pngquant11,3268217.9 kB3a year agoBSD-3-Clause
Feature Comparison: sharp vs imagemin vs imagemin-pngquant vs imagemin-mozjpeg vs imagemin-webp vs gulp-imagemin vs pngquant

Compression Techniques

  • sharp: sharp offers a range of image processing capabilities, including resizing and format conversion, alongside its compression features. It supports various formats and provides high-quality output with efficient processing.
  • imagemin: imagemin provides a wide array of compression techniques through its plugins, supporting both lossy and lossless compression. It allows developers to choose the best method for their specific image types and quality requirements.
  • imagemin-pngquant: imagemin-pngquant employs quantization techniques to optimize PNG images, effectively reducing their file size while preserving transparency and image quality, making it ideal for web graphics.
  • imagemin-mozjpeg: imagemin-mozjpeg uses advanced lossy compression techniques specifically designed for JPEG images, optimizing them for web use while maintaining high quality and reducing file sizes significantly.
  • imagemin-webp: imagemin-webp converts images to the WebP format, which uses both lossy and lossless compression methods, providing superior quality at smaller file sizes compared to traditional formats like JPEG and PNG.
  • gulp-imagemin: gulp-imagemin leverages various compression techniques through its plugins, including lossy and lossless methods. It integrates with other Gulp tasks, allowing for a streamlined workflow that can include multiple optimization steps in one go.
  • pngquant: pngquant uses quantization to compress PNG files, focusing on reducing file sizes without losing transparency or significant detail, making it a reliable choice for web graphics.

Integration

  • sharp: sharp can be used independently or integrated into Node.js applications, providing a powerful image processing library that can handle multiple tasks beyond just optimization.
  • imagemin: imagemin can be integrated into various build systems or used as a standalone tool, providing flexibility in how developers choose to implement image optimization in their projects.
  • imagemin-pngquant: imagemin-pngquant works as a plugin for imagemin, allowing for easy integration into imagemin workflows, making it simple to optimize PNG images alongside other formats.
  • imagemin-mozjpeg: imagemin-mozjpeg is a plugin for imagemin, which means it can be easily integrated into any imagemin-based workflow, allowing for targeted JPEG optimization within a broader image processing strategy.
  • imagemin-webp: imagemin-webp can be used as a plugin within imagemin, enabling developers to incorporate WebP conversion into their image optimization processes effortlessly.
  • gulp-imagemin: gulp-imagemin is designed to work seamlessly with Gulp, making it easy to integrate image optimization into existing Gulp workflows. It allows developers to automate image processing as part of their build steps.
  • pngquant: pngquant is a standalone command-line tool, making it easy to use in various environments without needing integration into a specific build system.

Performance

  • sharp: sharp is designed for high performance, processing images quickly and efficiently, making it suitable for server-side applications where speed and resource management are critical.
  • imagemin: imagemin's performance depends on the plugins used, but it generally provides efficient image optimization that can be incorporated into any build process, enhancing overall application performance.
  • imagemin-pngquant: imagemin-pngquant effectively reduces PNG file sizes while maintaining quality, which is crucial for performance in web applications that rely heavily on graphics.
  • imagemin-mozjpeg: imagemin-mozjpeg is optimized for JPEG images, offering high-quality compression that minimizes file sizes without sacrificing visual fidelity, making it ideal for performance-sensitive applications.
  • imagemin-webp: imagemin-webp provides superior compression for images, leading to faster load times and better performance, especially in modern web applications that support the WebP format.
  • gulp-imagemin: gulp-imagemin optimizes images during the build process, which can significantly improve the performance of web applications by ensuring that images are compressed before deployment, reducing load times for end users.
  • pngquant: pngquant is known for its efficient PNG compression, which helps improve web performance by reducing the size of images without losing quality, making it a valuable tool for web developers.

Output Quality

  • sharp: sharp provides high-quality output with advanced options for controlling image quality during processing, making it suitable for applications that require precise image handling.
  • imagemin: imagemin provides options for controlling output quality through its various plugins, enabling developers to fine-tune the balance between file size and image quality based on their needs.
  • imagemin-pngquant: imagemin-pngquant focuses on maintaining the quality of PNG images while reducing file sizes, ensuring that transparency and detail are preserved in the output.
  • imagemin-mozjpeg: imagemin-mozjpeg is specifically designed to optimize JPEG images while preserving high quality, making it an excellent choice for projects where image fidelity is a priority.
  • imagemin-webp: imagemin-webp offers both lossy and lossless output options, allowing developers to choose the best quality settings for their images based on the specific use case.
  • gulp-imagemin: gulp-imagemin maintains a balance between compression and output quality, allowing developers to configure settings to achieve the desired quality level for their images during the build process.
  • pngquant: pngquant is known for its ability to maintain high output quality for PNG images while effectively reducing their sizes, making it a reliable choice for web graphics.
How to Choose: sharp vs imagemin vs imagemin-pngquant vs imagemin-mozjpeg vs imagemin-webp vs gulp-imagemin vs pngquant
  • sharp: Opt for sharp if you require a high-performance image processing library that supports a wide range of image formats and offers advanced features like resizing, cropping, and format conversion. It is particularly suitable for server-side image processing in Node.js applications.
  • imagemin: Select imagemin if you need a versatile and standalone image optimization tool that can be used in various environments. It provides a simple API for optimizing images programmatically and can be integrated into different build systems or scripts without being tied to Gulp or any other specific tool.
  • imagemin-pngquant: Use imagemin-pngquant if you are focused on optimizing PNG images. This plugin utilizes quantization techniques to reduce the file size of PNGs while maintaining transparency, making it suitable for web graphics and images where quality preservation is essential.
  • imagemin-mozjpeg: Opt for imagemin-mozjpeg when you specifically need to optimize JPEG images with advanced compression techniques. It offers better quality at lower file sizes compared to standard JPEG compression, making it ideal for projects where image quality is a priority.
  • imagemin-webp: Choose imagemin-webp if you want to convert images to the WebP format, which provides superior compression for both lossy and lossless images. This is particularly useful for modern web applications that aim to deliver high-quality images with reduced file sizes for faster loading times.
  • gulp-imagemin: Choose gulp-imagemin if you are using Gulp as your build system and want to integrate image optimization seamlessly into your workflow. It allows you to optimize images during the build process, making it easy to automate image compression alongside other tasks like minifying CSS and JavaScript.
  • pngquant: Select pngquant if you need a standalone tool specifically for compressing PNG images. It is a command-line utility that efficiently reduces the size of PNG files while preserving image quality, making it a great choice for developers who prefer a simple, no-frills approach to PNG optimization.
README for sharp

sharp

sharp logo

The typical use case for this high speed Node-API module is to convert large images in common formats to smaller, web-friendly JPEG, PNG, WebP, GIF and AVIF images of varying dimensions.

It can be used with all JavaScript runtimes that provide support for Node-API v9, including Node.js (^18.17.0 or >= 20.3.0), Deno and Bun.

Resizing an image is typically 4x-5x faster than using the quickest ImageMagick and GraphicsMagick settings due to its use of libvips.

Colour spaces, embedded ICC profiles and alpha transparency channels are all handled correctly. Lanczos resampling ensures quality is not sacrificed for speed.

As well as image resizing, operations such as rotation, extraction, compositing and gamma correction are available.

Most modern macOS, Windows and Linux systems do not require any additional install or runtime dependencies.

Documentation

Visit sharp.pixelplumbing.com for complete installation instructions, API documentation, benchmark tests and changelog.

Examples

npm install sharp
const sharp = require('sharp');

Callback

sharp(inputBuffer)
  .resize(320, 240)
  .toFile('output.webp', (err, info) => { ... });

Promise

sharp('input.jpg')
  .rotate()
  .resize(200)
  .jpeg({ mozjpeg: true })
  .toBuffer()
  .then( data => { ... })
  .catch( err => { ... });

Async/await

const semiTransparentRedPng = await sharp({
  create: {
    width: 48,
    height: 48,
    channels: 4,
    background: { r: 255, g: 0, b: 0, alpha: 0.5 }
  }
})
  .png()
  .toBuffer();

Stream

const roundedCorners = Buffer.from(
  '<svg><rect x="0" y="0" width="200" height="200" rx="50" ry="50"/></svg>'
);

const roundedCornerResizer =
  sharp()
    .resize(200, 200)
    .composite([{
      input: roundedCorners,
      blend: 'dest-in'
    }])
    .png();

readableStream
  .pipe(roundedCornerResizer)
  .pipe(writableStream);

Contributing

A guide for contributors covers reporting bugs, requesting features and submitting code changes.

Licensing

Copyright 2013 Lovell Fuller and others.

Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0

Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations under the License.