Imagine Tools: from image compression pain to my own app

While building this website, I kept hitting the same annoying problem: I needed to compress images and compare results quickly before publishing.

On Mac, I could not find many options that felt smooth for this workflow. Most online tools were also painful for day-to-day use: too many manual steps, upload limits, privacy concerns, and inconsistent output quality.

So I decided to vibe code my own app: Imagine.

Why I built it

I wanted one simple tool that helps me prepare web-ready images fast, without breaking quality or slowing down my workflow.

My goal was practical:

• Keep image size web-friendly (target under 100KB when possible)
• Preserve visual quality
• Process multiple files in one run
• Avoid touching original files

Features I use the most

• Dual interface: GUI for daily use and CLI support when needed
• Smart optimization to balance quality and size
• Modern output formats: WebP and AVIF, plus JPEG and PNG
• Batch optimization with progress feedback
• Drag and drop workflow in GUI mode
• Optional watermark support
• Safe output to a separate optimized/ folder

CLI support

Imagine also supports CLI, which is useful when I want automation or quicker terminal workflows. I will share CLI details in another post.

Final thoughts

This project started from a real pain point while building my own site, and now it is part of my regular workflow.

If you want to try it or check the code:

Open Imagine on GitHub