# Install exact-image with Homebrew, MacPorts

Image processing library. Version 1.2.1 via Homebrew; verified from local package data. Also installable with macports: sudo port install exact-image.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:exact-image
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install exact-image
```

  Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata

- MacPorts (94%):

```sh
sudo port install exact-image
```

  Evidence: MacPorts ports tree: graphics/exact-image/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:exact-image
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 1.2.1
- **Source summary:** Image processing library
- **Homepage:** <https://exactcode.com/opensource/exactimage/>
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00

## Executables

- bardecode (alias)
- econvert (alias)
- edentify (alias)
- empty-page (alias)
- hocr2pdf (alias)
- optimize2bw (alias)

## Install behavior

- Bottle: not available

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 1.2.1
## Project history and usage

ExactImage is a C++ image-processing library and CLI suite from ExactCODE, created as a faster, more generic alternative to ImageMagick for selected production image workflows.

### Project history

The official page says ExactCODE began the project in the mid-2000s after finding ImageMagick too CPU-heavy for certain tasks. A C++ prototype reportedly cut processing time to roughly one twentieth of the ImageMagick baseline for the needed workloads.

ExactImage developed through numbered release series. Version 0.2 added a stable SWIG-exported API; 0.3 added per-codec accelerated rotation, flipping, scaling, color conversion, and on-demand decoding; 0.5 added open-source barcode recognition and faster pixel iteration; 0.6 rewrote the PDF codec and introduced hocr2pdf for searchable PDFs.

### Adoption history

The project page explicitly mentions deployment in production solutions by partner companies and lists distribution packaging for T2 SDE, FreeBSD ports, Debian, and Ubuntu.

Its adoption story is strongest in scanner, OCR, barcode, and document-processing pipelines rather than desktop image editing.

### How it is used

The econvert command is the ImageMagick convert-like frontend for reading images, applying operations, and writing outputs. The page documents pipelines such as scaling, rotating JPEGs losslessly, changing color spaces, and producing thumbnails.

Other included tools include edentify for image identification, hocr2pdf for searchable PDF generation from hOCR input, bardecode for barcode recognition, and edisplay for image viewing.

### Why package nerds care

ExactImage is interesting because it bundles several specialized document-image tools around a performance-oriented C++ library: conversion, identification, barcode recognition, and OCR-to-PDF assembly.

It also represents an older open-source style: project homepage documentation, SVN trunk, release snapshots, and distro packages instead of a GitHub-centered workflow.

### Timeline

- Mid-2000s: ExactCODE started the C++ prototype after reviewing ImageMagick performance.
- 0.2 series: Stable external SWIG API introduced.
- 0.3 series: Accelerated JPEG-oriented operations and on-demand decoding added.
- 0.5 series: Barcode recognition and faster pixel iteration added.
- 0.6 series: PDF codec rewritten and hocr2pdf introduced.
- 0.8 series: Multiple images per file supported in TIFF and econvert.

### Related projects

- The project page positions ExactImage as a possible alternative to ImageMagick for selected image-processing tasks.
- It embeds dcraw code for camera RAW support and compares fast JPEG scaling with EPEG.

### Sources

- <https://exactcode.com/opensource/exactimage>
- <http://svn.exactcode.de/exact-image/trunk>
- <http://dl.exactcode.de/oss/exact-image/>


## Security Notes

broad file, network, media, or database tool signal.

- **Geiger risk:** blue / medium
- broad file, network, media, or database tool signal

## Other Package-Manager Records

- MacPorts - exact-image: normalized package name match | MacPorts ports tree: graphics/exact-image/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1


## Combined YAML source

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