# Install colmap with Homebrew, apt, Nix

Structure-from-Motion and Multi-View Stereo. Version 4.1.1 via Homebrew; verified 2026-07-25. Also installable with debian: sudo apt install colmap.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:colmap
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install colmap
```

  Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata

### Linux

- Debian apt (92%):

```sh
sudo apt install colmap
```

  Evidence: Debian stable package indexes: colmap from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz

- Nix (92%):

```sh
nix profile install nixpkgs#colmap
```

  Evidence: nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/co/colmap/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:colmap
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 4.1.1
- **Source summary:** Structure-from-Motion and Multi-View Stereo
- **Homepage:** <https://colmap.github.io/>
- **Repository:** <https://github.com/colmap/colmap>
- **Last updated:** 2026-07-25T12:25:41Z
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00

## Executables

- colmap (alias)

## Install behavior

- Bottle: not available

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 4.1.1
## Project history and usage

COLMAP is a general-purpose Structure-from-Motion and Multi-View Stereo pipeline with both graphical and command-line interfaces.

### Project history

The official README says COLMAP was originally written by Johannes Schoenberger with funding from PhD advisors Jan-Michael Frahm and Marc Pollefeys. It builds on existing computer-vision work and asks research users to cite its 2016 Structure-from-Motion and Multi-View Stereo papers.

The project has evolved from a reconstruction application into a broader ecosystem including official Docker images, Conda packages, and Python bindings through PyCOLMAP.

### Adoption history

COLMAP became a standard open-source tool in photogrammetry, 3D reconstruction, and computer-vision research because it combines mature SfM/MVS algorithms with a usable GUI, CLI automation, sample datasets, and reproducible citation targets.

Official download notes point to Windows binaries, Linux/Unix/BSD packages through Repology, Docker images, Conda packages, PyPI Python bindings, and source builds, showing adoption across research and package-manager distribution channels.

### How it is used

Users reconstruct ordered or unordered image collections through automatic reconstruction, GUI workflows, or CLI pipelines. Package users commonly install the colmap executable for local photogrammetry jobs, research experiments, or scripted reconstruction.

### Why package nerds care

COLMAP is packaging-significant because it combines GUI, CLI, CUDA-sensitive computer-vision dependencies, Docker images, Conda packaging, Python bindings, and native distribution packages in one scientific software stack.

### Timeline

- 2016: COLMAP citation papers for Structure-from-Motion and Multi-View Stereo are published.
- 2020s: Official README documents Docker images, Conda packages, PyCOLMAP bindings, and distribution packages.
- 2024: Official README includes GLOMAP citation guidance for the global SfM pipeline.

### Related projects

- Official README names dependencies and related components including ceres-solver, poselib, sift-gpu, vlfeat, PyCOLMAP, and GLOMAP.

### Sources

- <https://colmap.github.io/>
- <https://github.com/colmap/colmap>
- <https://github.com/colmap/colmap/releases>


## Security Notes

No matching local secret-handling manifest was found for colmap. Nucleus package metadata is still published here so future coverage has a stable package URL.


## Other Package-Manager Records

- Debian apt - colmap - 3.10-2: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: colmap from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | Structure-from-Motion and Multi-View Stereo | https://github.com/colmap/colmap
- Nix - colmap: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/co/colmap/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1
- Ubuntu apt - colmap - 3.9.1-2build2: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: colmap from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | Structure-from-Motion and Multi-View Stereo | https://github.com/colmap/colmap


## Combined YAML source

View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/colmap.yml](https://github.com/mxcl/pkgdb/blob/main/combined/colmap.yml)


## Sources

- pkg.so package database
- Geiger risk classifier
- curated package history
- pkgdb category and tag curation
- external package-manager database matches
- cross-ecosystem install command graph