PHP & MySQLExtras
How to Install Imagick and ImageMagick for XAMPP on a PC
If you want your PHP code to be able to use ImageMagick to edit images on a PC, you must download two pieces of software:
- ImageMagick: an image editing program
- Imagick: a PHP extension that allows PHP code to control the ImageMagick program
The Imagick extension adds classes and methods (that act like built-in classes and methods) you can use to work with images.
They allow your PHP code to control the ImageMagick software, opening, editing, and saving images.
Installing ImageMagick
1. Get required information
To install ImageMagick, you need to know if your version of Windows is 32-bit or 64-bit.
If you are not sure, go to the Windows Start menu and select Settings > System > About to open the About settings.
Under the heading Device specifications, the System type will indicate whether your version is 32-bit or 64-bit.
2. Download the software
To download ImageMagick, go to the download page of http://imagemagick.org. If your version of Windows is:
- 64-bit use the first version.
- 32-bit use the version that has the description "Win32 dynamic at 16-bits-per-pixel component".
This will download an .exe file.
3. Install the software
Double click on the .exe file and follow the instructions in the installer.
During installation, check the box to add the application directory to your system path.
Installing Imagick
1. Get required information
To install imagick, you need to know three things, which you can find out from the first table of data that is generated by the phpinfo() function:
- PHP Version
- Operating system architecture (x64 or x86)
- Whether "Thread Safety" is enabled
The phpinfo() function is used to show this information in the first example in the code download (in the examples for the Introduction).
2. Download the software
Click here to download the Imagick extension.
Find the most recent stable (not beta) version.
Click on the DLL link next to the windows logo for that version.
This will bring up a page that lists different versions of the Imagick extension that you can download for Windows. Select the version that matches:
- Your PHP version
- Whether "Thread Safety" is enabled
- Operating system architecture (x64 or x86)
When you click on the link for your version, a ZIP file will be downloaded.
3. Install the software
Open the Imagick ZIP file and find the file called php_imagick.dll
Find your php\ext folder. The phpinfo() function will show you the path to this folder if you search for extension_dir
Typically for XAMPP, this folder is C:\xampp\php\ext
Copy the php_imagick.dll file into your php\ext folder.
Find your apache\bin folder.
When XAMPP installs Apache, it is usually here: C:\xampp\apache\bin
Copy the following files from the Imagick download, into the apache\bin folder:
- All files with the prefix
CORE_*and suffix.dll - All files with the prefix
IM_MOD_*and suffix.dll
In total this is around 149 files.
4. Enable Imagick in php.ini
Having installed the Imagick extension, you must tell the PHP interpreter that it has been installed. To do this open your php.ini file.
Search for extension= and you will see lots of lines that start with this.
Add the following on a new line after the ones that are there:
extension=php_imagick.dll
Save the php.ini file, then restart XAMPP to apply the changes you made to the php.ini file.
Checking ImageMagick is Installed
To check that ImageMagick is installed, you can type magick -version at the command prompt. If you see a message telling you the version, then you know it is installed.
Checking Imagick is Installed
To check that Imagick is installed, use the phpinfo() function and look for the heading imagick. If you find this heading followed by a table telling you information such as the version, supported classes, and image formats, then it is installed.
