Intervention Image
A PHP library for creating and editing images, using GD, Imagick or libvips underneath.Intervention/image
- Stars
- 14.4k
- Forks
- 1.5k
- Licence
- MIT
- Language
- PHP
- Last update
- 7 days ago
- Type
- Library
What it is
Intervention Image is a PHP library that lets code resize, edit, combine and save images through one consistent set of commands. Instead of learning the separate APIs of PHP's image extensions, you pick a driver (GD, Imagick or libvips) and use the same fluent methods. It is framework-agnostic, so it can be added to any PHP project with Composer.
- Scale an uploaded photo down to a fixed height
- Add a watermark image to a corner of a picture
- Read a WebP file and re-encode it as JPEG at a chosen quality
- Process animated images with the supported drivers
Great for
- PHP developers who need to resize or convert uploaded images on a server
- Projects that may need to switch between GD, Imagick or libvips depending on the server
- Developers building watermarking or image-generation features in PHP
- Teams that want a documented, MIT-licensed image library
Not ideal for
- Non-PHP projects, since the library only runs in PHP (requires PHP 8.3 or newer)
- People who need a finished image editor application rather than code to build with
- Servers where none of GD, Imagick or libvips can be installed
How to get it
- 1
Install with a package manager
You'll need: PHP 8.3 or newer · Mbstring PHP extension · GD, Imagick or libvips PHP extension · Composer
Install the package with Composer
composer require intervention/image - 2
Run it
- Install the package with Composer.
- Create an ImageManager using a driver such as GdDriver.
- Read an image with decodePath().
- Apply an edit such as scale(height: 300).
- Encode and save the result with save().
- 3
Get the most out of it
- Switch drivers (GD, Imagick or libvips) to suit your server, using the same code
- Use encodeUsingFormat() with a quality setting to control file size
- Use insert() with an Alignment constant to place watermarks
- Read the official documentation at image.intervention.io for the full list of methods
Downloads
Strengths
- Single API works across GD, Imagick and libvips drivers
- Framework-agnostic and installable via Composer
- Released under the permissive MIT license
Trade-offs
- Requires PHP 8.3 or newer plus an image extension, which may not suit older hosting
- Usage is code-based, so there is no graphical interface
- The README excerpt does not list every supported operation; check the official docs for details
How it compares
| Project | Stars | Type | Level | Updated | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| image (this) | 14.4k | Library | intermediate | 7 days ago | PHP developers who need to resize or convert uploaded images on a server |
| symfony | 31.2k | Library | intermediate | 4 days ago | PHP developers building web applications that need a structured framework |
| Mobile-Detect | 10.7k | Library | beginner | 15 days ago | PHP developers who need to tell mobile and tablet visitors apart on the server |
| framework | 35k | Framework | intermediate | 4 days ago | PHP developers building web applications or APIs |
| bagisto | 28.3k | App | intermediate | 4 days ago | Developers building a custom online store on Laravel |
| PhotoSwipe | 25.3k | Library | intermediate | 11 months ago | Web developers who want a photo gallery or lightbox on a site |
Stats synced from GitHub. The assessment above was drafted with AI from the project's README on 2026-10-29 and may miss recent changes — check the README before relying on a command. MIT licence: free to use, modify and distribute, including commercially, as long as you keep the copyright notice.