identify.im6

identify.im6 [options...] file [[options...] file ...]

-format codestring
    Use printf-style string to control output format

-verbose
    Print detailed information about images

-quiet
    Suppress all warning messages

-ping
    Efficiently determine image attributes without full read

-size geometry
    Pre-read image to specify size for decoding

-precision value
    Set decoding precision

-interlace type
    Set image interlace scheme

-channel type
    Apply option to select image channels

-define key[=value]
    Define image format-specific settings

-regard-warnings
    Pay attention to warning messages

-help
    Print program usage help

-version
    Print ImageMagick version string

-list type
    List ImageMagick configuration info or delegates

-debug events
    Display copious debugging information

identify.im6 is the ImageMagick 6 version of the identify command, used to describe the format and characteristics of one or more image files. It outputs details such as image type (e.g., JPEG, PNG), dimensions, color depth, colorspace, file size, and more.

This tool is ideal for quick inspections, scripting, batch verification, or debugging image processing workflows. For example, running identify.im6 rose.jpg might yield:
rose.jpg JPEG 346x230 DirectClass 8-bit 141KB 0.000u 0:01

Key features include support for over 200 image formats, customizable output via -format, fast metadata extraction with -ping, and verbose reporting. It reads files directly or from URLs, handles multi-frame images like GIFs or PDFs, and provides statistics without full decompression where possible.

In environments with both ImageMagick 6 and 7, the .im6 suffix distinguishes it from the newer identify (IM7). Commonly used in automation, forensics, or quality checks.

Suffix .im6 specific to ImageMagick 6; may conflict with IM7's identify. Large files or many images can be slow without -ping. Requires ImageMagick 6 libraries.

identify.im6 -format '%f %wx%h %b' *.jpg
Outputs: image1.jpg 1920x1080 2.5MB
image2.jpg 800x600 512KB

For GIF/PDF: identify.im6 -verbose animation.gif lists all frames with delays, loops.

Developed as part of ImageMagick 6.x (circa 2000s-2018) by ImageMagick Studio LLC. .im6 binaries introduced in distributions like Ubuntu for IM6/IM7 coexistence. Superseded by unified magick in IM7 (2017+).

convert.im6(1), mogrify.im6(1), display.im6(1), montage.im6(1), magick(1)