ImageMagick – Command-line Tools: Composite
Author: ImageMagick Studio LLC
Description: Create, Edit, Compose, or Convert Digital Images
Keywords: command-line, tools:, composite, image processing software

# Overlap One Image over Another

Example Usage • Option Summary

Use the `composite` program to overlap one image over another. See Command Line Processing for advice on how to structure your `composite` command or see below for example usages of the command.

## Example Usage

We list a few examples of the `composite` command here to illustrate its usefulness and ease of use. To get started, lets overlay a smiley face over a rose:

    magick composite -gravity center smile.gif  rose: rose-over.png

You can create three-dimensional effect with the Atop:

    magick convert -size 70x70 canvas:none -fill red -draw 'circle 35,35 10,30' red-circle.png
    magick convert -size 70x70 canvas:none -draw 'circle 35,35 35,20' -negate \
    -channel A -gaussian-blur 0x8 white-highlight.png
    magick composite -compose atop -geometry -13-17 white-highlight.png red-circle.png red-ball.png

You can find additional examples of using `composite` in Examples of ImageMagick Usage. You can find out more about them and the mathematics by looking at SVG Alpha Compositing

## Option Summary

The `composite` command recognizes these options. Click on an option to get more details about how that option works.

Option | Description
--- | ---
-affine matrix | affine transform matrix
-alpha | on, activate, off, deactivate, set, opaque, copy", transparent, extract, background, or shape the alpha channel
-authenticate value | decrypt image with this password
-blend geometry | blend images
-blue-primary point | chromaticity blue primary point
-border geometry | surround image with a border of color
-bordercolor color | border color
-channel type | apply option to select image channels
-colors value | preferred number of colors in the image
-colorspace type | set image colorspace
-comment string | annotate image with comment
-compose operator | set image composite operator
-compress type | image compression type
-debug events | display copious debugging information
-decipher filename | convert cipher pixels to plain
-define format:option | define one or more image format options
-density geometry | horizontal and vertical density of the image
-depth value | image depth
-displace geometry | shift image pixels defined by a displacement map
-dissolve value | dissolve the two images a given percent
-dither method | apply error diffusion to image
-encipher filename | convert plain pixels to cipher pixels
-encoding type | text encoding type
-endian type | endianness (MSB or LSB) of the image
-extract geometry | extract area from image
-filter type | use this filter when resizing an image
-font name | render text with this font
-geometry geometry | preferred size or location of the image
-gravity type | horizontal and vertical text placement
-green-primary point | chromaticity green primary point
-help | print program options
-identify | identify the format and characteristics of the image
-interlace type | type of image interlacing scheme
-interpolate method | pixel color interpolation method
-label string | assign a label to an image
-level value | adjust the level of image contrast
-limit type value | pixel cache resource limit
-log format | format of debugging information
-monitor | monitor progress
-monochrome | transform image to black and white
-negate | replace each pixel with its complementary color
-page geometry | size and location of an image canvas (setting)
-pointsize value | font point size
-profile filename | add, delete, or apply an image profile
-quality value | JPEG/MIFF/PNG compression level
-quantize colorspace | reduce image colors in this colorspace
-quiet | suppress all warning messages
-red-primary point | chromaticity red primary point
-regard-warnings | pay attention to warning messages.
-respect-parentheses | settings remain in effect until parenthesis boundary.
-rotate degrees | apply Paeth rotation to the image
-sampling-factor geometry | horizontal and vertical sampling factor
-scene value | image scene number
-seed value | seed a new sequence of pseudo-random numbers
-set attribute value | set an image attribute
-sharpen geometry | sharpen the image
-shave geometry | shave pixels from the image edges
-size geometry | width and height of image
-stegano offset | hide watermark within an image
-stereo geometry | combine two image to create a stereo anaglyph
-strip | strip image of all profiles and comments
-swap indexes | swap two images in the image sequence
-synchronize | synchronize image to storage device
-taint | mark the image as modified
-thumbnail geometry | create a thumbnail of the image
-tile | repeat composite operation across and down image
-transform | affine transform image
-transparent-color color | transparent color
-treedepth value | color tree depth
-type type | image type
-units type | the units of image resolution
-unsharp geometry | sharpen the image
-verbose | print detailed information about the image
-version | print version information
-virtual-pixel method | access method for pixels outside the boundaries of the image
-watermark geometry | percent brightness and saturation of a watermark
-white-point point | chromaticity white point
-white-threshold value | force all pixels above the threshold into white
-write filename | write images to this file