You can install ImageMagick from source. However, if don't have a proper development environment or if you're anxious to get started, download a ready-to-run Unix or Windows executable. Before you download, you may want to review recent changes to the ImageMagick distribution.

These are the Unix variations that we support. If your system is not on the list, try installing from source. Although ImageMagick runs fine on a single core computer, it automagically runs in parallel on dual and quad-core systems reducing run times considerably.

Verify its message digest.

ImageMagick RPM's are self-installing. Simply type the following command and you're ready to start using ImageMagick:

$magick> rpm -Uvh ImageMagick-6.5.8-7.i386.rpm

For other systems, create (or choose) a directory to install the package into and change to that directory, for example:

$magick> cd $HOME

Next, extract the contents of the package. For example:

$magick> tar xvfz ImageMagick.tar.gz

Set the MAGICK_HOME environment variable to the path where you extracted the ImageMagick files. For example:

$magick> export MAGICK_HOME="$HOME/ImageMagick-6.5.8"

If the bin subdirectory of the extracted package is not already in your executable search path, add it to your PATH environment variable. For example:

$magick> export PATH="$MAGICK_HOME/bin:$PATH"

On Linux and Solaris machines add $MAGICK_HOME/lib to the LD_LIBRARY_PATH environment variable:

$magick> LD_LIBRARY_PATH="${LD_LIBRARY_PATH:+$LD_LIBRARY_PATH:}$MAGICK_HOME/lib" $magick> export LD_LIBRARY_PATH

Finally, to verify ImageMagick is working properly, type the following on the command line:

$magick> convert logo: logo.gif $magick> identify logo.gif $magick> display logo.gif

Congratulations, you have a working ImageMagick distribution under Unix or Linux and you are ready to use ImageMagick to convert, compose, or edit your images or perhaps you'll want to use one of the Application Program Interfaces for C, C++, Perl, and others.

We recommend MacPorts which custom builds ImageMagick in your environment. Download MacPorts and type:

$magick> sudo port install ImageMagick

The port command downloads ImageMagick and many of its delegate libraries (e.g. JPEG, PNG, Freetype, etc.) and configures, builds, and installs ImageMagick automagically. Alternatively, you can download the ImageMagick Mac OS X distribution we provide:

Verify its message digest.

Create (or choose) a directory to install the package into and change to that directory, for example:

$magick> cd $HOME

Next, extract the contents of the package. For example:

$magick> tar xvfz ImageMagick-i386-apple-darwin10.2.0.tar.gz

Set the MAGICK_HOME environment variable to the path where you extracted the ImageMagick files. For example:

$magick> export MAGICK_HOME="$HOME/ImageMagick-6.5.8"

If the bin subdirectory of the extracted package is not already in your executable search path, add it to your PATH environment variable. For example:

$magick> export PATH="$MAGICK_HOME/bin:$PATH"

Set the DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH environment variable:

$magick> export DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH="$MAGICK_HOME/lib"

Finally, to verify ImageMagick is working properly, type the following on the command line:

$magick> convert logo: logo.gif $magick> identify logo.gif $magick> display logo.gif

Note, the display program requires the X11 server available on your Mac OS X installation DVD.

Congratulations, you have a working ImageMagick distribution under Mac OS X and you are ready to use ImageMagick to convert, compose, or edit your images or perhaps you'll want to use one of the Application Program Interfaces for C, C++, Perl, and others.

ImageMagick runs on all recent Windows releases except Windows 95 / 98. We recommend its use on an NT-based version of Windows (NT4, 2000, 2003, XP, or Vista). Starting with ImageMagick 5.5.7, older versions such as Windows 95 / 98 are not supported anymore. The amount of memory can be an important factor, especially if you intend to work on large images. A minimum of 256 MB of RAM is recommended, but the more RAM the better. Although ImageMagick runs fine on a single core computer, it automagically runs in parallel on dual and quad-core systems reducing run times considerably.

The Windows version of ImageMagick is self-installing. Simply click on the appropriate version below and it will launch itself and ask you a few installation questions. Versions with Q8 in the name are 8 bits-per-pixel component (e.g. 8-bit red, 8-bit green, etc.), whereas, Q16 in the filename are 16 bits-per-pixel component. A Q16 version permits you to read or write 16-bit images without losing precision but requires twice as much resources as the Q8 version. Versions with dll in the filename include ImageMagick libraries as dynamic link libraries. If you are not sure which version is appropriate, choose ImageMagick-6.5.8-7-Q16-windows-dll.exe.

Verify its message digest.

To verify ImageMagick is working properly, type the following in an MS-DOS Command Prompt window:

$magick> convert logo: logo.gif $magick> identify logo.gif $magick> imdisplay logo.gif

If you have any problems, install the Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable Package (x86) or Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable Package (x64). 64-bit Windows requires both packages (x86 & x64).

Congratulations, you have a working ImageMagick distribution under Windows and you are ready to use ImageMagick to convert, compose, or edit your images or perhaps you'll want to use one of the Application Program Interfaces for C, C++, Perl, and others.