Accessing the tools like gimp(installed at server) from client

Question

I want to create an web application through which i have to access tools like Gimp for my image processing. Is it possible to manage my need with client-server (Gimp at server) approach?

I am not restricting with the Gimp,however i prefer any opensource with basic functionality(zoom out/in,selection tool, cropping tool, transparent tool etc).

Sorry if the question is so wage as i am not much familiar with these kind of architectures.

And i hope this(stackoverflow) is the platform to get help from people.

Answer 1

There are several ways of doing image processing in the server of a web application.

1. One approach would be to invoke a tool through command-line (I think that is what you are trying to do with gimp).
2. Second approach would be to use a image manipulation library in the language you are using for developing the application. (Sometimes I did this with Java)
3. Use a combination of the above depending on the kind of manipulation you wish.

But with today browser capabilities, some processing can be done using HTML5 (canvas) + Javascript in the client itself. For instance you can use something like this for cropping:

http://www.webresourcesdepot.com/jquery-image-crop-plugin-jcrop/

Or something like this for image maniplation in Javascript:

http://pixastic.com/

So, there are plenty of choices. There is no a better approach, it all depends on the kind of processings, the size of the images, the hardware you have, etc.

Wish it helps...