bircoph@gentoo.org
Andrew Savchenko
Imlib 2 is the successor to Imlib. It is not just a newer version - it
is a completely new library. Imlib2 can be installed alongside Imlib
1.x without any problems since they are effectively different libraries
- but they Have very similar functionality.
Imlib2 can do the following:
* Load image files from disk in one of many formats,
* Save images to disk in one of many formats,
* Render image data onto other images,
* Render images to an X-Windows drawable,
* Produce pixmaps and pixmap masks of Images,
* Apply filters to images,
* Rotate images,
* Accept RGBA Data for images,
* Scale images,
* Alpha blend Images on other images or drawables,
* Apply color correction and modification tables and factors to
images,
* Render images onto images with color correction and modification
tables,
* Render truetype anti-aliased text,
* Render truetype anti-aliased text at any angle,
* Render anti-aliased lines,
* Render rectangles,
* Render linear multi-colored gradients,
* Cache data intelligently for maximum performance,
* Allocate colors automatically,
* Allow full control over caching and color allocation,
* Provide highly optimized MMX assembly for core routines,
* Provide plug-in filter interface,
* Provide on-the-fly runtime plug-in image loading and saving
interface,
* Fastest image compositing, rendering and manipulation library for X.
If what you want isn't in the list above somewhere then likely Imlib 2
does not do it. If it does it it likely does it faster than any other
library you can find (this includes gdk-pixbuf, gdkrgb, etc.) primarily
because of highly optimized code and a smart subsystem that does the
dirty work for you and picks up the pieces for you so you can be lazy
and let all the optimizations for you.
Imlib 2 can run without a display, so it can be easily used for
background image processing for web sites or servers - it only requires
the X libraries to be installed - that is all - it does not require an
XServer to run unless you wish to display images.
enlightenment