What is media-processing?

This Claude skill integrates the powerful ImageMagick suite to provide comprehensive image manipulation and media processing capabilities. It enables automated format conversion, batch resizing, visual effect application, and metadata optimization, streamlining the creation and management of visual assets directly within the AI workflow.

When should I use media-processing?

media-processing is useful in the following scenarios: • Batch Image Optimization: Automatically resize and compress large collections of images into web-optimized formats like WebP or JPEG to improve website performance and SEO. • Responsive Asset Generation: Programmatically create multiple versions of an image with different dimensions and aspect ratios to support responsive design across mobile and desktop platforms. • Automated Branding and Watermarking: Apply consistent logos, text overlays, or borders to sets of images to ensure brand identity and protect intellectual property. • Format Conversion and Metadata Cleaning: Seamlessly convert legacy image formats to modern standards while stripping sensitive EXIF metadata to reduce file size and enhance privacy. • Creative Visual Effects: Apply advanced filters, blurs, color adjustments, and compositions to images for social media content or marketing materials without manual editing.

name	media-processing
description	Process multimedia files with ImageMagick (image manipulation, format conversion, batch processing, effects, composition). Use when converting media formats, encoding images
license	MIT

Media Processing Skill

Process images using ImageMagick command-line tools for conversion, optimization, streaming, and manipulation tasks.

When to Use This Skill

Use when:

Converting media formats (video, audio, images)
Encoding video with codecs (H.264, H.265, VP9, AV1)
Processing images (resize, crop, effects, watermarks)
Extracting audio from video
Creating streaming manifests (HLS/DASH)
Generating thumbnails and previews
Batch processing media files
Optimizing file sizes and quality
Applying filters and effects
Creating composite images or videos

Tool Selection Guide

ImageMagick: Image Processing

Use ImageMagick for:

Image format conversion (PNG, JPEG, WebP, GIF)
Resizing, cropping, transformations
Batch image processing (mogrify)
Visual effects (blur, sharpen, sepia)
Text overlays and watermarks
Image composition and montages
Color adjustments, filters
Thumbnail generation

Decision Matrix

Task	Tool	Why
Image resize	ImageMagick	Optimized for still images
Batch images	ImageMagick	mogrify for in-place edits
Image effects	ImageMagick	Rich filter library

Installation

macOS

brew install ffmpeg imagemagick

Ubuntu/Debian

sudo apt-get install ffmpeg imagemagick

Windows

# Using winget
winget install ffmpeg
winget install ImageMagick.ImageMagick

# Or download binaries
# FFmpeg: https://ffmpeg.org/download.html
# ImageMagick: https://imagemagick.org/script/download.php

Verify Installation

magick -version
# or
convert -version

Quick Start Examples

Image Processing

# Convert format
magick input.png output.jpg

# Resize maintaining aspect ratio
magick input.jpg -resize 800x600 output.jpg

# Create square thumbnail
magick input.jpg -resize 200x200^ -gravity center -extent 200x200 thumb.jpg

Batch Image Resize

# Resize all JPEGs to 800px width
mogrify -resize 800x -quality 85 *.jpg

# Output to separate directory
mogrify -path ./output -resize 800x600 *.jpg

Image Watermark

# Add watermark to corner
magick input.jpg watermark.png -gravity southeast \
  -geometry +10+10 -composite output.jpg

Common Workflows

Create Responsive Images

# Generate multiple sizes
for size in 320 640 1024 1920; do
  magick input.jpg -resize ${size}x -quality 85 "output-${size}w.jpg"
done

Batch Image Optimization

# Convert PNG to optimized JPEG
mogrify -path ./optimized -format jpg -quality 85 -strip *.png

Image Blur Effect

# Gaussian blur
magick input.jpg -gaussian-blur 0x8 output.jpg

Advanced Techniques

Complex Image Pipeline

# Resize, crop, border, adjust
magick input.jpg \
  -resize 1000x1000^ \
  -gravity center \
  -crop 1000x1000+0+0 +repage \
  -bordercolor black -border 5x5 \
  -brightness-contrast 5x10 \
  -quality 90 \
  output.jpg

Animated GIF from Images

# Create with delay
magick -delay 100 -loop 0 frame*.png animated.gif

# Optimize size
magick animated.gif -fuzz 5% -layers Optimize optimized.gif

Media Analysis

Image Information

# Basic info
identify image.jpg

# Detailed format
identify -verbose image.jpg

# Custom format
identify -format "%f: %wx%h %b\n" image.jpg

Performance Tips

Copy streams when possible - Avoid re-encoding with -c copy
Appropriate presets - Balance speed vs compression
Batch with mogrify - In-place image processing
Strip metadata - Reduce file size with -strip
Progressive JPEG - Better web loading with -interlace Plane
Limit memory - Prevent crashes on large batches
Test on samples - Verify settings before batch
Parallel processing - Use GNU Parallel for multiple files

Reference Documentation

Detailed guides in references/:

imagemagick-editing.md - Format conversion, effects, transformations
imagemagick-batch.md - Batch processing, mogrify, parallel operations

Common Parameters

ImageMagick Geometry

800x600 - Fit within (maintains aspect)
800x600! - Force exact size
800x600^ - Fill (may crop)
800x - Width only
x600 - Height only
50% - Scale percentage

Troubleshooting

ImageMagick "not authorized"

# Edit policy file
sudo nano /etc/ImageMagick-7/policy.xml
# Change <policy domain="coder" rights="none" pattern="PDF" />
# to <policy domain="coder" rights="read|write" pattern="PDF" />

Memory errors

# Limit memory usage
magick -limit memory 2GB -limit map 4GB input.jpg output.jpg

Resources

ImageMagick: https://imagemagick.org/
ImageMagick Usage: https://imagemagick.org/Usage/

media-processing

When & Why to Use This Skill

Use Cases