Image manipulation in Node.js is facilitated by several modules available in the npm ecosystem. In this chapter, we will learn how to install and use some of the most popular and powerful modules for image manipulation: sharp and Jimp.

Installing Sharp

Sharp is a high-performance image manipulation library for Node.js. Its performance is due to using the libvips image processing library.

To install sharp, use npm by running the following command in your project's directory:

bash

Basic Usage of Sharp

Below are some basic examples of how to use sharp to perform common image manipulation operations.

Load and Resize an Image

javascript

Convert Image Format

javascript

Installing Jimp

Jimp is another popular library for image manipulation in Node.js. It is fully written in JavaScript and has no dependencies, which makes it easy to use but perhaps not as fast as sharp.

To install Jimp, use npm by running the following command:

bash

Basic Usage of Jimp

Below are some basic examples of how to use Jimp to perform common image manipulation operations.

Load and Resize an Image

javascript

Convert Image Format

javascript

Comparison of Sharp and Jimp

• Sharp: Offers superior performance and is ideal for applications that require intensive image handling.
• Jimp: Easier to set up and use, and is suitable for image manipulation tasks that are not performance-critical.

[Here you could add an image showing a performance comparison graph between sharp and Jimp, highlighting the differences in processing speed]

Practical Example Integrating Sharp into an Express Server

Finally, let's see how to integrate sharp into an Express server to manipulate images uploaded by users:

javascript

This example shows how to receive an image uploaded by the user, resize it using sharp, and save it in a specific folder on the server.

With this basic knowledge of installing and using modules for image manipulation in Node.js, you are ready to proceed with more advanced tasks.