Image Snap
by: Robert Harder
Capture Images from the Command Line
ImageSnap is a Public Domain command-line tool that lets you capture still images from an iSight or other video source.
Installation
ImageSnap is included in various package managers such as Homebrew and MacPorts.
The easiest way to install imagesnap
is probably with one of those commands
such as brew install imagesnap
.
You can also simply copy the binary imagesnap
file to someplace on
your path like /usr/local/bin
, or leave it in a "current directory," and
call it with ./imagesnap
instead. If your download has a version number
appended to it like imagesnap-0.2.10
then I recommend you rename it
to just imagesnap
.
The first time you use the tool, you may get a popup window from MacOS
asking to give imagesnap
permission to access the camera.
Enjoy!
Usage
To capture an image simply run the program from the command line. There is a delay of a few seconds while the camera warms up, and then...snap!
$ imagesnap
Capturing image from device "iSight"..................snapshot.jpg
To specify a filename, make that your last argument:
$ imagesnap icu.jpg
Capturing image from device "FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)"..................icu.jpg
If you have multiple video devices attached to your computer, use the -l
("el") flag to list them:
$ imagesnap -l
Video Devices:
=> EpocCam
=> OBS Virtual Camera
=> Logitech BRIO
=> FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)
=> USB 2.0 Camera
To select a specific video device use the -d device flag with the full or partial name of a device:
$ imagesnap -d BRIO
Capturing image from device "Logitech BRIO"..................snapshot.jpg
You can capture a series of images in a timelapse using the -t
option.
The following command would take a picture ever 60 seconds:
$ imagesnap -d BRIO -t 60
Capturing image from device "Logitech BRIO"..................snapshot-00001.jpg
snapshot-00002.jpg
snapshot-00003.jpg
There is a default warmup period of three seconds (new to version 0.2.13) when you take a picture. This gives the camera time to get its sensors all set up. Your camera might have a faster or slower response time, so you can adjust the warmup period to suit your needs.
$ imagesnap -d BRIO -w 0
Capturing image from device "Logitech BRIO"..................snapshot.jpg
Image Formats
Only JPEG output is supported.
Changes
- v0.2.14 - Bump to fix distribution problems only
- v0.2.13 - Default warmup period is now three seconds. Set
-w 0
if you want no delay. - v0.2.12 - Supports native M1. Other tweaks for package managers.
- v0.2.11 - Some documentation updates and preparing for better integration with package managers like Homebrew and MacPorts
- v0.2.10 - Fixed bug when showing Capturing image with xxx...snapshot.jpg
- v0.2.9 - When doing timelapse, sequence numbers will pick up where the last filename left off.
- v0.2.8 - Removed timestamp from filename when doing sequence of images with
-t
option - v0.2.7 - When specifying a device with the
-d
flag, substrings are matched if an exact match is not found. Some cleanup in the code for modern Xcode versions. Verified on Mojave and Big Sur - v0.2.6 - Unknown point release four years before v0.2.7 - I don't know what it was.
- v0.2.5 - Added option to delay the first snapshot for some time. Added a time-lapse feature (thanks, Bas Zoetekouw).
- v0.2.4 - Found bug that caused crash on Mac OS X 10.5 (but not 10.6).
- v0.2.4beta - Tracking bug that causes crash on Mac OS X 10.5 (but not 10.6).
- v0.2.3 - Fixed bug that caused all images to be saved as TIFF. Not sure when this bug was introduced.
- v0.2.2 - Added ability to output jpeg to standard out. Made executable lowercase imagesnap.
- v0.2.1 - Changed name from ImageCapture to ImageSnap to avoid confusion with Apple's Image Capture application.
- v0.2 - Multiple file formats (not just TIFF). Faster response.
- v0.1 - This is the initial release.
A Note About Public Domain
I have released this software into the Public Domain. That means you can do whatever you want with it. Really. You don't have to match it up with any other open source license — just use it. You can rename the files, do whatever you want. If your lawyers say you have to have a license, contact me, and I'll make a special release to you under whatever reasonable license you desire: MIT, BSD, GPL, whatever.