Image Processing Pipeline is a harmonious collection of packages that automate the image build process. Users can define a processing pipeline in a text format that tells IPP what to do with each source image, such as resizing the image, compressing the image or creating different responsive variants. It is fast, non-destructive and focuses on quality.

IPP does not implement any image processing algorithms, it is merely a wrapper around existing image libraries, such as libvips or Michael Fogleman's primitive SVG algorithm, written in Go (which is amazing, and yet has not seen much of the light of day). It is written in TypeScript (a statically typed superset of JavaScript) and runs on Node.js, the de-facto dominant platform for web-development related tools. It is therefore cross-platform and, most importantly, framework agnostic, meaning you can use this in any project you like. There are two official interfaces for IPP, the command-line tool and the webpack loader, however, you can easily create your own adapter for whatever build process you would like to use.

IPP was created out of a lack of other solutions. It was meant to be an optimal no-comprises solution to image optimisation for the modern web. It is therefore designed in a particular way, and some of the higher-level modules are more opinionated, such as the manifest format. If this is not your style, you can use only the core functions and design your own export formats.