imgcompress

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What is ImgCompress?

ImgCompress is a self-hosted image processing server that runs entirely inside a single Docker container. It handles compression, format conversion, and AI-powered background removal, all locally on your own hardware. No cloud APIs, no third-party uploads, no tracking.

Built for people, homelab enthusiasts, and anyone who values privacy and owns their data.

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Features

Feature	Details
70+ Image Formats	HEIC, HEIF, PSD, AVIF, EPS, PDF, WebP, TIFF, BMP, GIF, and 60+ more
Local AI Background Removal	Bundled model runs on your CPU. No API key, no subscription, no upload
Bulk Compression	Multi-core parallel processing across entire photo libraries
Format Conversion	HEIC to WebP, PSD to JPG, image batches to paginated PDF, and more
Per-File Cropping	Crop each upload before conversion with ratio presets (Free, 1:1, 16:9, 4:3) or custom pixel dimensions
Web UI + CLI	Browser dashboard for day-to-day use; CLI for scripting pipelines
Single Container	Every codec and library pre-bundled, zero host dependencies
Air-Gap Ready	Once pulled, runs fully offline. No internet required, ever

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AI Background Removal: Local & Private

Stop uploading personal or client photos to cloud-based removers. ImgCompress ships a bundled AI model that runs background removal on your own hardware. No API call, no subscription, no file ever leaves your server.

Original	Background Removed

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Per-File Cropping (since v0.7.0)

Every upload gets its own crop overlay before conversion. Pick a ratio preset (Free, 1:1, 16:9, 4:3) or type exact pixel width and height. Selections are saved per file, so one batch can mix square thumbnails with 16:9 covers without re-uploading.

How to use it

1. Drop your images into the upload area as usual.
2. On any file row, click the crop icon to open the editor.
3. Pick an aspect ratio preset (1:1, 4:3, 16:9, …) or set width and height manually.
4. Zoom and crop to frame the shot exactly the way you want it.
5. Click Save to keep the crop, Discard to back out, or Remove to clear a previously saved crop.
6. Convert as normal. The crop is applied first, then your chosen format, quality, resize, and background-removal settings.

Full walkthrough and demo video: Image Crop Editor docs.

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Quick Start

Pull the image, open localhost:3001, start converting. About 60 seconds total.

docker run -d \
  --name imgcompress \
  -p 3001:5000 \
  karimz1/imgcompress:latest

Prefer Docker Compose? Ready-made configurations live in docker/compose/:

• advanced.docker-compose.yaml for home or LAN use. Reachable from any device on your network out of the box, with container best practices applied (log rotation, healthcheck, no-new-privileges).
• proxied.docker-compose.yaml for hosting under a domain with HTTPS, behind a Traefik reverse proxy with TLS, security headers, and optional Let’s Encrypt.

Step-by-step instructions for both are in the compose guide.

For environment variables and deploying without the mascot, see the full installation guide.

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Why I Built ImgCompress

I was tired of the “software loop.” Every time I needed something simple, I had to install another app:

• PSD files: Needed specialized software just to convert them to an image file.
• HEIC files: Needed another converter for regular photo files.
• Image to PDF: Needed another app just to share a screenshot for work, since a PDF is often better for emails and easy for others to print.
• AI Backgrounds: I realized I needed one more app for that too.

I thought to myself: “Why can’t one tool just do it all?” Plus, uploading personal photos to random online converters never felt right to me.

One Toolbox for Everything

So I built a single toolbox that can take over 70 different formats and fix them all in one place. Whether you need to convert PSD or HEIC files to an image, turn a screenshot into a PDF for a work email, or shrink a massive 4K photo, this tool does it automatically.

The community has now pulled the image tens of thousands of times, which shows the pain is real.

Why Docker?

I chose Docker because it keeps your computer clean. Instead of you having to install 70 different messy libraries on your system, I packed everything into one Ready-to-go Box that you can run anywhere called imgcompress. It just works.

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Privacy by Design

No cloud processing	Conversions, compression, and AI inference all run locally. Images never leave your machine.
No telemetry	No analytics, no crash reporting, no feature flags phoning home. Completely silent on the network after startup.
Offline after pull	Once the image is pulled, no internet connection is ever needed again. No license checks, no expiry.
Open source	GPL-3.0. Audit the code, fork it, self-host it forever.

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Security-Hardened Docker Image

ImgCompress is built with a security-hardened, minimal image, aligned with common container security standards out of the box.

Minimal Surface	No shell (bash, sh), no network tools (curl, wget, etc.), no package manager. The attack surface is drastically reduced.
Minimal Components	System dependencies are aggressively pruned to maintain a minimal runtime environment.
Non-root User	Runs as a non-root user nonroot by default.
DHI Base Images	Using Docker Hardened Images from the official DHI project for build phases and runtime Image.
SBOM and Provenance	The Docker Image is built with a full Software Bill of Materials (SBOM) and build provenance attestation.

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Multilingual Support

ImgCompress supports multiple frontend languages and welcomes community improvements to every locale. See the translation guide to add a new language, improve an existing translation, or get credited for meaningful language updates.

Supported languages:

• English
• Spanish
• Spanish (Mexico)
• Chinese (Simplified)
• Hindi
• Arabic
• French
• Portuguese (Brazil)
• Russian
• Japanese
• German
• Hungarian

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Featured & Listed On

ImgCompress is recognized across the self-hosted community and featured on curated lists and deployment platforms:

• Awesome Self-Hosted : Community-curated index of self-hosted software.
• Coolify : Open-source PaaS — available as an official Coolify service.
• SelfHostedWorld & selfh.st: Featured directories and registries for self-hosting enthusiasts.
• xCloud: Offers one-click deployment of ImgCompress on a cloud server. ImgCompress itself is free — you only pay for the cloud server provided by xCloud. (I’m not affiliated with xCloud.)
• AlternativeTo & PitchHut: Listed as a privacy-respecting local image processing alternative.

A note from the creator:
A huge thank you to everyone who has supported ImgCompress and helped it reach more people! Seeing so many people embrace privacy-focused tools and use ImgCompress in their everyday workflows makes all the time and effort worthwhile. Thank you for being part of this journey! ❤️
— Karim Zouine, Creator of ImgCompress

Know another platform featuring ImgCompress, or want to add it? Get in touch.

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Documentation

• Installation & Configuration: Docker setup, environment variables, reverse proxy examples
• Developer Guide: VS Code Dev Containers, architecture overview, local env setup
• imgcompress-chan (Bot): Custom helper bot that repairs Dependabot pnpm lockfiles and auto-merges dependency PRs
• E2E Testing with Playwright: How offline stability is verified across all 70+ formats
• Credits & Libraries: The open source projects that power ImgCompress
• Hall of Fame: Sponsors and contributors

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Contributing

Contributions are welcome: bug reports, format requests, or pull requests.

• Read the Contributing Guide before opening a PR
• Browse good-first-issue labels for a starting point
• Every change is verified by a Playwright E2E suite that covers all supported formats

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Support the Project

ImgCompress is an independent open-source project built and maintained in my free time. If ImgCompress saves you time or server resources, consider supporting its continued development:

Donations are completely optional — starring the repo, sharing it, and contributing are already greatly appreciated!

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License & Author

Author: Karim Zouine
License: GPL-3.0
Docker Image: hub.docker.com/r/karimz1/imgcompress

If ImgCompress saves you time, a GitHub star helps others discover it.