Image Content Crop

CLI to crop images to their content area by removing margins — and optionally post-process the cropped result with Google Gemini (image generation). Presets are defined in a YAML config file; margins and Gemini prompts can also be set via command-line options.

Use it for any workflow that needs consistent image cropping (e.g. stripping headers, footers, or page numbers) with an optional AI-powered editing pass.

Requirements

• Node.js 20+
• Build once before using: npm run build

Installation

Local (clone or download):

npm install
npm run build

Run with npx (no install):

npx image-content-crop --help
npx image-content-crop batch -s ./my-images -d ./cropped -p a

If you publish this package to npm, anyone can run it with:

npx image-content-crop <command> [options]

Configuration (YAML)

Config file resolution

Config files are resolved in the following order (first existing file wins). At each location, a local override file is checked first:

1. Current directory: ./crop-config.local.yaml → ./crop-config.yaml
2. User home: ~/.config/image-content-crop/crop-config.local.yaml → ~/.config/image-content-crop/crop-config.yaml
3. Package default: the crop-config.yaml shipped with the package

Use --config <path> to force a specific file.

The crop-config.local.yaml file is gitignored by default — use it for personal overrides (custom prompts, project-specific margins) without affecting the shared config.

Preset format

Presets define margin ratios (0–1) or pixel values, and optional Gemini post-processing settings.

# Global Gemini settings (optional).
# Requires GEMINI_API_KEY env var. Model can be overridden per preset.
gemini:
  model: gemini-2.5-flash-image

presets:
  a:
    marginLeft: 0.10
    marginRight: 0.10
    marginBottom: 0.14
    marginTop: 0.12
    # Per-preset Gemini processing (optional).
    # Sends cropped image + prompt to Gemini for editing.
    # Use --no-gemini to skip at runtime.
    # gemini:
    #   prompt: "Recreate this image with a fresh clean look"
    #   model: gemini-2.5-flash-image   # optional, overrides global
  b:
    marginLeft: 0.10
    marginRight: 0.10
    marginBottom: 0.10
    marginTop: 0.12

• marginLeft / marginRight / marginTop / marginBottom: ratio 0–1 (e.g. 0.10 = 10%), or pixels if you set marginsInPixels: true in the preset.
• gemini.prompt (per preset): when present, the cropped image is sent to Gemini with this prompt. Omit to skip Gemini for the preset.
• gemini.model (per preset, optional): overrides the global model for this preset.
• Preset names are arbitrary (e.g. a, b, sample); use --preset <name> to apply one.

CLI usage

Single file

With single subcommand:

npx image-content-crop single --source path/to/image.png --dest path/to/out.png
npx image-content-crop single -s input.png -d output.png

# With a preset from config
npx image-content-crop single -s input.png -d output.png -p a

# With custom config file
npx image-content-crop single -s input.png -d output.png -c ./my-crop-config.yaml -p my-preset

Short form (no subcommand):

npx image-content-crop --src input.png --out output.png

Batch (whole directory)

Default directories are in (source) and out (destination).

# Default: reads from "in", writes to "out"
npx image-content-crop batch

# Presets A and B (e.g. in/A → out/A, in/B → out/B)
npx image-content-crop batch -s in/A -d out/A -p a
npx image-content-crop batch -s in/B -d out/B -p b

# Custom dirs and preset
npx image-content-crop batch --source-dir ./images --dest-dir ./cropped --preset a
npx image-content-crop batch -s ./images -d ./cropped -p b -c ./crop-config.yaml

npm scripts (from project root; they use sample-data by default):

• npm run crop:a — batch crop sample-data/in/A → sample-data/out/A with preset a
• npm run crop:b — batch crop sample-data/in/B → sample-data/out/B with preset b
• npm run crop:sample — batch crop sample-data/in/sample → sample-data/out/sample with preset sample
• npm run crop — run the CLI (help and ad-hoc commands)

Margin options (override preset or use without preset)

You can override any preset margin with:

• -l, --margin-left <n> — left margin (0–1 ratio, or pixels if --margins-in-pixels)
• -t, --margin-top <n> — top margin
• -r, --margin-right <n> — right margin (default 0.06)
• -b, --margin-bottom <n> — bottom margin (default 0.14)
• --margins-in-pixels — treat all margins as pixel values

Example (more crop on right and bottom):

npx image-content-crop single -s page.png -d out.png -r 0.08 -b 0.16

Gemini integration (optional)

After cropping, images can be sent to Google Gemini for AI-powered post-processing (e.g. de-identifying content, refreshing visuals). This step is optional and disabled by default.

Setup

1. Set the GEMINI_API_KEY environment variable (or add it to a .env file at the project root — the CLI loads dotenv automatically).

2. Add a gemini block to your preset in the config file:

gemini:
  model: gemini-2.5-flash-image    # global default model

presets:
  my-preset:
    marginLeft: 0.10
    marginRight: 0.10
    marginBottom: 0.14
    marginTop: 0.12
    gemini:
      prompt: "Replace photos with different generic scenes; keep all text unchanged."
      model: gemini-2.5-flash-image   # optional, overrides global

CLI options

These options are available on both single and batch subcommands:

Option	Description
--no-gemini	Skip Gemini processing even if the preset configures it
--gemini-prompt <text>	Override the Gemini prompt from the preset
--gemini-interval-ms <n>	Batch only: minimum ms between Gemini API calls (default 2000)

Examples:

# Crop + Gemini with preset
npx image-content-crop single -s input.png -d output.png -p sample

# Crop only (skip Gemini even if preset has it)
npx image-content-crop batch -s in/A -d out/A -p a --no-gemini

# Override prompt from command line
npx image-content-crop single -s input.png -d output.png --gemini-prompt "Make colors brighter"

# Batch with faster pacing (500ms between API calls)
npx image-content-crop batch -s in/A -d out/A -p a --gemini-interval-ms 500

Retry and timeout behaviour

Gemini API calls are retried automatically with exponential backoff and jitter on:

• HTTP 429 (rate limit)
• HTTP 5xx (server errors)
• Transient network errors (ECONNRESET, ETIMEDOUT, EAI_AGAIN)

Environment variables

Variable	Default	Description
GEMINI_API_KEY	(required)	Google Gemini API key
GEMINI_HTTP_TIMEOUT_MS	300000 (5 min)	HTTP timeout per Gemini request
GEMINI_RETRY_MAX_ATTEMPTS	5	Maximum number of retry attempts
GEMINI_RETRY_INITIAL_MS	1000	Initial backoff delay (ms)
GEMINI_RETRY_MAX_MS	60000	Maximum backoff delay cap (ms)
GEMINI_MIN_INTERVAL_MS	2000	Minimum delay between batch Gemini calls (also settable via --gemini-interval-ms)

Expected layout

• Source directory: any folder (default in for batch).
• Output directory: any folder (default out for batch).
• Supported formats: .png, .jpg, .jpeg, .webp, .gif.

Example with two presets (A and B): the sample-data folder uses sample-data/in/A, sample-data/in/B and sample-data/out/A, sample-data/out/B. From the project root, npm run crop:a and npm run crop:b process that folder. For your own data, use in/ and out/ at the project root (or pass -s / -d).

Development

• Lint: npm run lint (Biome)
• Format: npm run format or npm run check (Biome format + lint with auto-fix)
• Unit tests: npm run test (watch) or npm run test:run (single run). Test files sit next to the source (e.g. src/crop.test.ts, src/gemini.test.ts).
• Typecheck: npm run typecheck

Publishing to npm (GitHub-hosted)

To publish this CLI to the npm registry with the repo on GitHub:

1. GitHub

   • The project is configured for github.com/yortyrh/image-content-crop. To use another repo, update repository, homepage, and bugs.url in package.json.

2. npm

   • Create an account at npmjs.com if needed.
   • Log in: npm login.
   • From the project root, run:
     • npm run build
     • npm publish
   • If the package name image-content-crop is taken, use a scoped name (e.g. @your-username/image-content-crop) and publish with npm publish --access public.

3. After publishing

   • Anyone can run: npx image-content-crop --help or npx image-content-crop batch -s ./in -d ./out -p a.
   • prepublishOnly runs npm run build before each publish so the built dist/ is up to date.

Deploying a new version (after pushing changes)

Releases are published to npm automatically via GitHub Actions when you push a version tag.

1. One-time setup (if not done yet) In the repo: Settings → Secrets and variables → Actions. Add a secret NPM_TOKEN with an npm access token that has Publish permission (automation or classic token).

2. For each release

   • Update the version field in package.json (e.g. 1.1.0). The tag and package.json version must match.
   • Commit and push:

     git add package.json
     git commit -m "chore: release v1.1.0"
     git push origin main

   • Create and push a tag (use the same version as in package.json):

     git tag v1.1.0
     git push origin v1.1.0

   • The Publish to npm workflow will run: it typechecks, builds, and publishes to npm. Check the Actions tab on GitHub for status.