animate.im6

animate.im6 [options...] [file | @filelist]...

-delay
    pause value centiseconds before next frame (default 8; suffixes: sec, msec)

-loop
    loop animation count times then exit (0=infinite)

-size
    preferred image canvas size (e.g., 640x480)

-geometry
    preferred window size/position (e.g., 100x100+0+0)

-crop
    crop images to given geometry

-backdrop
    window background color (default black)

-window
    window type: icon|image|info|slide|true

-page
    image size/offset for display

-density x
    vertical/horizontal resolution in pixels/inch

-depth
    image depth in bits (8/16/32)

-antialias
    enable text/font antialiasing

-interlace
    image interlace scheme (None/Line/Plane/Partition)

-label
    assign label to images

-update
    detect scene changes every seconds

+progress
    disable progress monitor

animate.im6 is a command-line tool from ImageMagick 6 that displays and animates sequences of images in an X11 window. It supports GIFs, multi-frame TIFFs, and other formats, offering playback controls like pause, step forward/back, speed adjustment via sliders, looping, rotation, resize, and crop. Users can drag images between windows for montages or apply visual effects on-the-fly.

Ideal for previewing animations or inspecting frame-by-frame details before processing with tools like convert or mogrify. The interface includes a menu bar for options, keyboard shortcuts (e.g., Space to pause, +/- for speed, Q to quit), and mouse interactions. It reads from files, stdin, or lists (@filelist).

Dependencies include X11 libraries; set $DISPLAY for remote use. Handles transparency, delays from metadata, and compression. Deprecated in favor of ImageMagick 7's unified binaries, but remains useful for legacy setups. Limitations include no native Wayland support and potential memory use for large sequences.

X11-only (needs $DISPLAY); high memory for large sequences; .im6 is IM6-specific (use animate in IM7 legacy mode); no headless mode without Xvfb.

Space=pause/ resume
</>=step back/forward
+/-=increase/decrease speed
0-9=set delay
R=reset
Q/Esc=quit

animate.im6 animation.gif
Opens GIF for interactive playback.

animate.im6 -delay 20 -loop 5 frame*.png
Animates PNGs with 0.2s delay, 5 loops.

Part of ImageMagick since v5 (1990s); .im6 binaries from v6 (2005-2018) for ABI stability; split in v7 (2017+) into magick/animate for policy compliance.

display(1), convert(1), montage(1), import(1), mogrify(1)