CIF

A command-line interface (CLI) for OS X's Core Image Filters.

Cif is a small utility that brings apple's built-in & embedded image algorithms to a common API.

Getting

For pre-built binaries, checkout https://github.com/emcconville/cif/releases/latest

Usage

Basic usage can be described as ...

cif <filter> [arguments, ...] <output>

Where <filter> is a CoreImage Filter name, [arguments, ...] is one -or- many input flags, and <output> refers to the finial output destination.

A common task of creating a Gaussian Blur

cif CIGaussianBlur -inputImage input.png -inputRadius 4 output.png

To list all available Core Image Filters, the following will display all supported filters.

cif list

To read the description of each filter, and the related argument list, simply run the list command followed by the filter name.

cif list CIGaussianBlur

Included Batteries (also called Features)

Filter Chaining

Multiple CIFilters can be executed in sequence. When cif reads additional -filter <filter> arguments, it assumes the preceding filter's output should be passed to the next filter as -inputImage parameter.

cif -filter CIVibrance -inputImage input_image.jpg -inputAmount 50  \
    -filter CIBloom -outputImage out.png

Cif tries to be smart, so -filter & -output can be omitted.

cif CIVibrance -inputImage input_image.jpg -inputAmount 50  \
    CIBloom out.png

Color Functions

Common CSS color functions are supported.

rgb(255, 0, 127)
hsl(280, 50%, 100%)

Both RGB, and HSL colorspaces accept optional alpha channels between 0.0 & 1.0.

rgba(255, 0, 127, 0.75)
hsla(280, 50%, 100%, 0.75)

X11 Color Names

Standard X11 colors are included. Input arguments will accept values like: -inputColor Cyan

Pipes!

Core Image data can be read, our redirected to standard in & out; respectively. This allows you to leverage cif along side existing UNIX applications.

# Read from STDIN
dot graphiviz.dot -Tpng | cif CIBloom -inputImage - -inputIntensity 4 \
                                      -outputImage ghostviz.png
# Write to STDOUT
cif CIBloom -inputImage something.png STDOUT | identify png:-

Patterns

ImageMagick's inventory of tile patterns have been included. Any image input arguments can leverage these patterns by prefixing a pattern name with pattern: string. Example -inputImage pattern:bricks.

Note: Patterns are unbound (infinite) in nature, so an additional -size WIDTHxHEIGHT will be required.

Tab Completion

The bash script CifGetOpt.sh should be sourced, or contents copied to your .bashrc, or .bash_profile file. Tab behavior as follows:

cif CIBl[TAB]
# Will list available matching filters
cif CIBloom -input[TAB]
# Will list available input parameters

Note: Mileage will very based on environment configuration.

Building

To build from source

git clone https://github.com/emcconville/cif.git && cd cif
xcodebuild -scheme cif -configuration 'Release' \
           CONFIGURATION_BUILD_DIR=/tmp/  build
sudo cp -p /tmp/cif /usr/local/bin/cif