Unfortunately when it comes to file conversion/creation even, ImageMagick is the best of a bad bunch. Graphics formats are notoriously bad, check out the famous PSD rant on it: http://web.archive.org/web/20090426230545/http://code.google...

Alternate link: https://github.com/zepouet/Xee-xCode-4.5/blob/master/XeePhot...

Look! It's possible to highlight an entire block of code: https://github.com/zepouet/Xee-xCode-4.5/blob/master/XeePhot...

Maybe we should even link to a specific version of the file, to make sure that nothing breaks when it is updated or moved: https://github.com/zepouet/Xee-xCode-4.5/blob/83394493f51991...

What replacement would you suggest?

Libvips. It also doesn't choke on large files and doesn't fill your tmp dir with GBs large tempfiles.

Most basic image manipulation can be performed using only the standard library packages, if your language includes such (PHP's bundled `libgd2` fork / Golang's `image` package / Qt QImage+QPixMap ). For Python `pillow` is popular.

I don't think ImageMagick is targeted at "basic" image manipulation, though.

Python / Pillow (formerly PIL) could offer a real path here although there's a gap to Imagemagick on things like SVG

I believe php uses imagick under the hood, and even if it does not, I'd rather rely on imagick than on PHP code when accepting exotic formats.

From a security standpoint, wouldn't it be better to rely on PHP (first)? Are you more or less likely to get RCE from PHP or ImageMagick? I'd say PHP has had a lot more eyes on it, security wise.

> From a security standpoint, wouldn't it be better to rely on PHP (first)?

You're joking, right? Popping PHP boxes is script kiddie 101. You might argue that "bad developers make insecure software" but when you're given a toolbox with nothing but oddly shaped hammers it's very hard to make a house.

That's rarely PHP failing but whatever framework/CMS is used. That's like saying C++ is inherently insecure because there exists a lot of software written in C++ with security holes.

Did you read the second sentence I wrote? Just because you can write safe code in a language that tries to make you footgun at every turn, doesn't mean that language is a good language. Pick a language that doesn't suffer from crippling security issues (which, sure, you can workaround -- but why use a language that requires workarounds to get security?).

We started Imageflow (https://www.imageflow.io ) in C to design the C ABI for interop with all the host languages, but we're swapping out components for Rust every time it's possible/practical.

Or, when saving to file for imagemagic, have it be a random temp name, with the correct file extension, read in the result, and only serve it as the original name when downloaded, if it fits the use case.

PHP does not use imagick, but a (forked) libgd2 by default (some distros patch php to use the distro libgd). Imagick is only available if you install a C PHP extension providing an imagick interface.

True, and most people. Despite the issues, it's still really versatile tech.