Reference

Comprehensive reference for all image manipulation functions in BoxLang.

Complete alphabetical reference for all image manipulation Built-In Functions (BIFs).

Fluent Builder

The BoxLang Image Manipulation module provides a modern, fluent API through the BoxImage class. This chainable interface makes image manipulation code more readable and maintainable.

The Fluent API is the recommended approach for all new image manipulation code in BoxLang.

🔄 Quick Reference: BIF vs Fluent API

Here's how common BIF patterns translate to the modern Fluent API:

BIF Approach	Fluent API Equivalent
ImageNew("photo.jpg")	ImageNew("photo.jpg")
ImageResize(img, 800, 600)	img.resize(800, 600)
ImageScaleToFit(img, 400)	img.scaleToFit(400)
ImageCrop(img, 10, 10, 200, 200)	img.crop(10, 10, 200, 200)
ImageRotate(img, 90)	img.rotate(90)
ImageFlip(img, "horizontal")	img.flip("horizontal")
ImageSplitGrid(img, 4, 3)	img.splitGrid(4, 3)
ImageAddBorder(img, 5, "black")	img.addBorder(5, "black")
ImageSetDrawingColor(img, "red")	img.setDrawingColor("red")
ImageDrawText(img, "Hello", 10, 50)	img.drawText("Hello", 10, 50)
ImageBlur(img, 3)	img.blur(3)
ImageSharpen(img, 0.5)	img.sharpen(0.5)
ImageGrayScale(img)	img.grayScale()
ImageNegative(img)	img.negative()
ImageWrite(img, "output.jpg")	img.write("output.jpg")
ImageWriteBase64(img)	img.toBase64String()
ImageGetWidth(img)	img.getWidth()
ImageGetHeight(img)	img.getHeight()

Chaining Example

BIF Approach - Verbose and Procedural:

img = ImageNew("photo.jpg");
ImageResize(img, 800, 600);
ImageRotate(img, 90);
ImageAddBorder(img, 10, "black");
ImageSetDrawingColor(img, "white");
ImageDrawText(img, "© 2025", 10, 50, { font: "Arial", size: 14 });
ImageWrite(img, "output.jpg");

Fluent API - Concise and Chainable:

Image("photo.jpg")
    .resize(800, 600)
    .rotate(90)
    .addBorder(10, "black")
    .setDrawingColor("white")
    .drawText("© 2025", 10, 50, { font: "Arial", size: 14 })
    .write("output.jpg");

---

📋 Method Categories

🎨 Creation & Loading

• Image() / ImageNew() - Create/load images from file, URL, base64, or create blank canvas
• ImageReadBase64() - Load image from base64 string

✂️ Transformations

• resize() - Resize to specific dimensions
• scaleToFit() - Scale proportionally to fit within bounds
• crop() - Extract a rectangular region
• rotate() - Rotate by angle
• flip() / transpose() - Flip horizontally/vertically/diagonally, or rotate in 90° increments
• shear() - Apply shear transformation
• splitGrid() - Split image into a grid of tiles

🎨 Effects & Filters

• blur() - Apply blur effect
• sharpen() - Sharpen the image
• grayScale() - Convert to grayscale
• negative() - Create negative
• overlay() - Overlay another image
• paste() - Paste image at position

🖌️ Drawing

• setDrawingColor() - Set drawing color
• setDrawingStroke() - Set stroke style
• setDrawingTransparency() - Set transparency
• setAntiAliasing() - Enable/disable anti-aliasing
• setBackgroundColor() - Set background color
• drawText() - Draw text
• drawLine() - Draw line
• drawRect() - Draw rectangle
• drawRoundRect() - Draw rounded rectangle
• drawOval() - Draw oval/circle
• drawArc() - Draw arc
• drawPoint() - Draw point
• clearRect() - Clear rectangle area

🎀 Decorations

• addBorder() - Add border around image

💾 Output

• write() - Write to file (format auto-detected from extension)
• toBase64String() - Export as base64 string (format auto-detected, overridable)
• getBlob() - Get raw byte array
• getBufferedImage() - Get Java BufferedImage

ℹ️ Information

• getWidth() - Get image width
• getHeight() - Get image height
• info() - Get comprehensive image info
• getExifMetadata() / getExifTag() - Read EXIF metadata
• getIPTCMetadata() / getIPTCTag() - Read IPTC metadata

⚡ Utilities (BIF only)

• ImageGenerateCaptcha() - Generate CAPTCHA images with configurable difficulty
• ImageQRCodeGenerate() / ImageQRCodeRead() - Generate QR codes and read them back
• ImageWriteToBrowser() - Stream image to HTTP response
• GetReadableImageFormats() / GetWriteableImageFormats() - List supported formats (includes WebP, GIF, BMP, TIFF)

---

🚀 Complete Example

Here's a real-world example showing the power of method chaining:

// Create a thumbnail with watermark
ImageNew("products/large-photo.jpg")
    .scaleToFit(400)
    .addBorder(2, "##cccccc")
    .setDrawingColor("white")
    .setDrawingTransparency(70)
    .fillRect(0, img.getHeight() - 30, img.getWidth(), 30)
    .setDrawingColor("##333333")
    .setDrawingTransparency(0)
    .drawText("© MyCompany 2025", 10, img.getHeight() - 10, {
        font: "Arial",
        size: 12,
        style: "bold"
    })
    .write("products/thumbnails/photo-thumb.jpg");

## BIF Quick Reference Table

| Function | Category | Member Function | Description |
|----------|----------|-----------------|-------------|
| `GetReadableImageFormats()` | Utilities | N/A | Get array of readable image formats |
| `GetWriteableImageFormats()` | Utilities | N/A | Get array of writeable image formats |
| `ImageAddBorder()` | Transformations | `img.addBorder()` | Add border to image |
| `ImageBlur()` | Filters | `img.blur()` | Apply Gaussian blur |
| `ImageClearRect()` | Drawing | `img.clearRect()` | Clear rectangular area |
| `ImageCopy()` | Creation | `img.copy()` | Create copy of image |
| `ImageCrop()` | Transformations | `img.crop()` | Crop image to region |
| `ImageDrawArc()` | Drawing | `img.drawArc()` | Draw arc or pie slice |
| `ImageDrawBeveledRect()` | Drawing | `img.drawBeveledRect()` | Draw beveled rectangle |
| `ImageDrawCubicCurve()` | Drawing | `img.drawCubicCurve()` | Draw cubic Bézier curve |
| `ImageDrawLine()` | Drawing | `img.drawLine()` | Draw straight line |
| `ImageDrawLines()` | Drawing | `img.drawLines()` | Draw multiple connected lines |
| `ImageDrawOval()` | Drawing | `img.drawOval()` | Draw oval or circle |
| `ImageDrawPoint()` | Drawing | `img.drawPoint()` | Draw single point |
| `ImageDrawQuadraticCurve()` | Drawing | `img.drawQuadraticCurve()` | Draw quadratic Bézier curve |
| `ImageDrawRect()` | Drawing | `img.drawRect()` | Draw rectangle |
| `ImageDrawRoundRect()` | Drawing | `img.drawRoundRect()` | Draw rounded rectangle |
| `ImageDrawText()` | Drawing | `img.drawText()` | Draw text string |
| `ImageFlip()` | Transformations | `img.flip()` | Flip image vertically/horizontally |
| `ImageGetBlob()` | Properties | `img.getBytes()` | Get image as byte array |
| `ImageGetBufferedImage()` | Properties | `img.getBufferedImage()` | Get Java BufferedImage |
| `ImageGetExifMetadata()` | Metadata | `img.getExifMetadata()` | Get all EXIF metadata |
| `ImageGetExifTag()` | Metadata | `img.getExifTag()` | Get specific EXIF tag |
| `ImageGetHeight()` | Properties | `img.getHeight()` | Get image height |
| `ImageGetIPTCMetadata()` | Metadata | `img.getIPTCMetadata()` | Get all IPTC metadata |
| `ImageGetIPTCTag()` | Metadata | `img.getIPTCTag()` | Get specific IPTC tag |
| `ImageGetWidth()` | Properties | `img.getWidth()` | Get image width |
| `ImageGrayScale()` | Filters | `img.grayScale()` | Convert to grayscale |
| `ImageInfo()` | Properties | `img.info()` | Get comprehensive image info |
| `ImageNegative()` | Filters | `img.negative()` | Invert colors |
| `ImageNew()` | Creation | N/A | Create new image |
| `ImageOverlay()` | Compositing | `img.overlay()` | Blend two images |
| `ImagePaste()` | Compositing | `img.paste()` | Paste image at position |
| `ImageQRCodeGenerate()` | Creation | `"text".toQRCode()` | Generate QR code image |
| `ImageQRCodeRead()` | Output | `img.readQRCode()` | Read the text from a QR code |
| `ImageRead()` | Creation | N/A | Read image from file |
| `ImageReadBase64()` | Creation | N/A | Read image from Base64 |
| `ImageResize()` | Transformations | `img.resize()` | Resize to dimensions |
| `ImageRotate()` | Transformations | `img.rotate()` | Rotate by angle |
| `ImageGenerateCaptcha()` | Creation | N/A | Generate CAPTCHA image |
| `ImageRotateDrawingAxis()` | Drawing | `img.rotateDrawingAxis()` | Rotate coordinate system |
| `ImageScaleToFit()` | Transformations | `img.scaleToFit()` | Scale to fit dimensions |
| `ImageSplitGrid()` | Utilities | `img.splitGrid()` | Split image into tile grid |
| `ImageSetAntiAliasing()` | Configuration | `img.setAntialiasing()` | Enable/disable antialiasing |
| `ImageSetBackgroundColor()` | Configuration | `img.setBackgroundColor()` | Set background color |
| `ImageSetDrawingColor()` | Configuration | `img.setDrawingColor()` | Set drawing color |
| `ImageSetDrawingStroke()` | Configuration | `img.setDrawingStroke()` | Set stroke properties |
| `ImageSetDrawingTransparency()` | Configuration | `img.setDrawingTransparency()` | Set transparency level |
| `ImageSharpen()` | Filters | `img.sharpen()` | Sharpen image |
| `ImageShear()` | Transformations | `img.shear()` | Shear/skew image |
| `ImageShearDrawingAxis()` | Drawing | `img.shearDrawingAxis()` | Shear coordinate system |
| `ImageTranslate()` | Transformations | `img.translate()` | Move image position |
| `ImageTranslateDrawingAxis()` | Drawing | `img.translateDrawingAxis()` | Move coordinate system |
| `ImageWrite()` | Output | `img.write()` | Write image to file |
| `ImageWriteBase64()` | Output | `img.writeBase64()` | Convert to Base64 string |
| `IsImage()` | Validation | N/A | Check if variable is image |
| `IsImageFile()` | Validation | N/A | Check if file is valid image |