sharp vs image-size vs jimp vs pica
Image Processing Libraries Comparison
1 Year
sharpimage-sizejimppicaSimilar Packages:
What's Image Processing Libraries?

Image processing libraries are essential tools in web development for manipulating and optimizing images. They provide functionalities such as resizing, cropping, and format conversion, which are crucial for improving website performance and user experience. These libraries enable developers to handle images efficiently, ensuring that they are appropriately sized and formatted for various devices and platforms, thus enhancing load times and visual quality.

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sharp15,260,06730,896534 kB11320 days agoApache-2.0
image-size13,808,4592,142378 kB444 months agoMIT
jimp1,628,224-4.03 MB-a year agoMIT
pica139,5413,939216 kB184 years agoMIT
Feature Comparison: sharp vs image-size vs jimp vs pica

Image Manipulation Capabilities

  • sharp:

    sharp excels in performance and offers a rich set of features for image processing, including resizing, format conversion, and compositing, making it suitable for complex image workflows.

  • image-size:

    image-size specializes in extracting image dimensions and metadata without altering the image, making it a lightweight choice for simple tasks.

  • jimp:

    jimp provides a wide range of image manipulation functions, including resizing, cropping, and applying filters, making it versatile for various image processing needs.

  • pica:

    pica focuses on high-quality image resizing, utilizing advanced algorithms to ensure minimal quality loss during the resizing process, which is crucial for maintaining visual fidelity.

Performance

  • sharp:

    sharp is known for its exceptional performance, leveraging native libraries to handle large images quickly and efficiently, making it ideal for server-side processing.

  • image-size:

    image-size is highly efficient for its purpose, as it only reads image metadata without processing the image itself, ensuring quick execution.

  • jimp:

    jimp is slower compared to others due to its pure JavaScript implementation, which may not be suitable for high-performance requirements or large-scale applications.

  • pica:

    pica is optimized for speed and quality, making it an excellent choice for client-side applications where performance is critical, especially for resizing images in real-time.

Ease of Use

  • sharp:

    sharp has a more complex API due to its extensive feature set, which may have a steeper learning curve, but it offers powerful capabilities for those willing to invest time.

  • image-size:

    image-size has a simple API that is easy to use, making it accessible for developers who need quick access to image dimensions without complex setups.

  • jimp:

    jimp offers a straightforward API that is beginner-friendly, allowing developers to perform image manipulations with minimal effort and setup.

  • pica:

    pica provides a simple interface for resizing images, but it may require additional understanding of its quality settings to achieve optimal results.

Supported Formats

  • sharp:

    sharp supports a wide range of image formats, including JPEG, PNG, WebP, and AVIF, and allows for format conversion, making it highly flexible.

  • image-size:

    image-size supports a variety of image formats, including JPEG, PNG, and GIF, but does not modify them.

  • jimp:

    jimp supports multiple image formats for both input and output, including JPEG, PNG, BMP, and TIFF, making it versatile for different use cases.

  • pica:

    pica supports common formats like JPEG and PNG for resizing, focusing on quality rather than format conversion.

Use Cases

  • sharp:

    sharp is designed for server-side applications that require high-performance image processing, such as image optimization services or batch processing tasks.

  • image-size:

    image-size is best suited for applications where image metadata is needed without any processing, such as galleries or image upload validations.

  • jimp:

    jimp is ideal for web applications that require on-the-fly image manipulations, such as social media platforms or content management systems.

  • pica:

    pica is perfect for client-side applications that need to resize images quickly while maintaining quality, such as image upload previews.

How to Choose: sharp vs image-size vs jimp vs pica
  • sharp:

    Use sharp for high-performance image processing, especially when dealing with large images or batch processing. It offers advanced features like format conversion and is optimized for speed, making it ideal for server-side applications.

  • image-size:

    Choose image-size if you need a lightweight solution specifically for obtaining image dimensions without modifying the image itself. It is ideal for scenarios where you only require metadata about images.

  • jimp:

    Select jimp for a comprehensive image manipulation library that supports various operations like resizing, cropping, and filtering. It is suitable for projects that require extensive image processing capabilities in a straightforward manner.

  • pica:

    Opt for pica if your primary focus is on high-quality image resizing with minimal loss of quality. It is particularly effective for client-side resizing in web applications where performance and quality are paramount.

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.