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sips — Apple Scriptable Image Processing System. Raster/Query images and ColorSync ICC Profiles. More infor

Submitted by: @import:tldr-pages·Mar 2, 2026·

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Problem

How to use the sips command: Apple Scriptable Image Processing System. Raster/Query images and ColorSync ICC Profiles. More information: <https://keith.github.io/xcode-man-pages/sips.1.html>.

Solution

sips — Apple Scriptable Image Processing System. Raster/Query images and ColorSync ICC Profiles. More information: <https://keith.github.io/xcode-man-pages/sips.1.html>.

Specify an output directory so that originals do not get modified:

sips --out {{path/to/output_directory}}

Resample image at specified size, Image aspect ratio may be altered:

sips --resampleHeightWidth {{1920}} {{300}} {{image_file.ext}}

Resample image so height and width aren't greater than specified size (notice the capital Z):

sips --resampleHeightWidthMax {{1920}} {{300}} {{image_file.ext}}

Resample all images in a directory to fit a width of 960px (honoring aspect ratio):

sips --resampleWidth {{960}} {{path/to/images}}

Convert an image from CMYK to RGB:

sips --matchTo "/System/Library/ColorSync/Profiles/Generic RGB Profile.icc" {{path/to/image.ext}} {{path/to/output_directory}}

Remove ColorSync ICC profile from an image:

sips --deleteProperty profile --deleteColorManagementProperties {{path/to/image_file.ext}}

Code Snippets

Specify an output directory so that originals do not get modified

sips --out {{path/to/output_directory}}

Resample image at specified size, Image aspect ratio may be altered

sips --resampleHeightWidth {{1920}} {{300}} {{image_file.ext}}

Resample image so height and width aren't greater than specified size (notice the capital Z)

sips --resampleHeightWidthMax {{1920}} {{300}} {{image_file.ext}}

Resample all images in a directory to fit a width of 960px (honoring aspect ratio)

sips --resampleWidth {{960}} {{path/to/images}}

Convert an image from CMYK to RGB

sips --matchTo "/System/Library/ColorSync/Profiles/Generic RGB Profile.icc" {{path/to/image.ext}} {{path/to/output_directory}}

Context

tldr-pages: osx/sips

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