--- title: "Changing from Imagick to GD" id: "178625" type: "knowledgebase" slug: "changing-imagick-to-gd" published_at: "2020-04-29T14:51:45+00:00" modified_at: "2026-08-11T19:00:53+00:00" url: "https://fooplugins.com/documentation/foogallery/troubleshooting-foogallery/changing-imagick-to-gd/" markdown_url: "https://fooplugins.com/documentation/foogallery/troubleshooting-foogallery/changing-imagick-to-gd.md" excerpt: "Imagick and GD are both image optimization libraries that are supported by WordPress. Under the hood, WordPress uses these to create thumbnails of media images that you upload. Imagick and GD are installed on your server and are available as..." taxonomy_knowledgebase_cat: - "Troubleshooting for FooGallery" --- [Troubleshooting for FooGallery](https://fooplugins.com/documentation/foogallery/troubleshooting-foogallery/) # Changing from Imagick to GD ## Related Articles - [Shortcode Attributes](https://fooplugins.com/documentation/foogallery/troubleshooting-foogallery/shortcode-attributes/) - [Sort Gallery: How To Enable Gallery Sorting](https://fooplugins.com/documentation/foogallery/troubleshooting-foogallery/gallery-sorting/) - [Gallery Loading Problems – Javascript Errors](https://fooplugins.com/documentation/foogallery/troubleshooting-foogallery/gallery-loading-problems-javascript-errors/) - [Freemius API Connectivity](https://fooplugins.com/documentation/foogallery/troubleshooting-foogallery/freemius-api-connectivity/) - [Freemius Errors](https://fooplugins.com/documentation/foogallery/troubleshooting-foogallery/freemius-errors/) - [Gallery Stops Showing](https://fooplugins.com/documentation/foogallery/troubleshooting-foogallery/gallery-stops-showing/) - [Full Width Galleries](https://fooplugins.com/documentation/foogallery/troubleshooting-foogallery/full-width-galleries/) - [Thumbnail Generation Alert Help](https://fooplugins.com/documentation/foogallery/troubleshooting-foogallery/thumbnail-generation-alert-help/) - [Improving Thumbnail Quality](https://fooplugins.com/documentation/foogallery/troubleshooting-foogallery/improving-thumbnail-quality/) - [Disable FooGallery Pro Promotions](https://fooplugins.com/documentation/foogallery/troubleshooting-foogallery/disable-foogallery-pro-promotions/) - [FooGallery Not Working After Update](https://fooplugins.com/documentation/foogallery/troubleshooting-foogallery/foogallery-not-working/) - [Masonry Gallery – Troubleshooting Blurry Thumbnails Issue](https://fooplugins.com/documentation/foogallery/troubleshooting-foogallery/troubleshooting-blurry-thumbnails/) - [FooGallery random sorting issues](https://fooplugins.com/documentation/foogallery/troubleshooting-foogallery/foogallery-random-sorting-issues/) - [Why Are My Product Images & Titles Missing from the WooCommerce Cart? (And How to Fix It)](https://fooplugins.com/documentation/foogallery/troubleshooting-foogallery/woocommerce-cart-product-images-titles-missing/) - [FooGallery v3.0 — Custom CSS Migration Guide](https://fooplugins.com/documentation/foogallery/troubleshooting-foogallery/foogallery-v3-0-custom-css-migration-guide/) - [Gallery Loading and Compatibility Settings](https://fooplugins.com/documentation/foogallery/troubleshooting-foogallery/gallery-loading-compatibility-settings/) **Need more help?** Browse all documentation or open a support ticket. [All docs](/documentation/) [Support](/support/) Imagick and GD are both image optimization libraries that are supported by WordPress. Under the hood, WordPress uses these to create thumbnails of media images that you upload. Imagick and GD are installed on your server and are available as PHP extensions. You might only have one installed on your server, or both. As a default, WordPress will use of Imagick over GD if both are available. Some features within FooGallery are only available with the GD image library. We are working on making FooGallery 100% compatible with Imagick, but that might take some time to implement. The features that are only available with GD are: - Upscale small images (available on FooGallery -> Settings -> Images Tab) - Thumbnail cropping – fill background (available when editing a gallery under Gallery Settings -> Advanced Tab) If you are wanting to use these features, or if you prefer GD over Imagick, you can now! To make this easy, we’ve built a setting into [FooGallery](/foogallery-wordpress-gallery-plugin/) to allow you to switch from Imagick to GD. The first thing you should do is check whether your system is using Imagick or GD. You can do this by going to FooGallery –> Settings. Click on the Images tab. The first thing you’ll see is a field called Thumbnail Image Library. This will tell you whether GD and Imagick are supported, and which is being currently active and being used by your system: ![Thumbnail Image Library](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg'%20viewBox='0%200%20365%20161'%3E%3C/svg%3E) Note: You can also find this information under FooGallery –>System Info in the admin menu. ## Switching to GD If both Imagick and GD are available on your hosting server, then to force GD to be used, follow these steps: 1. Go to FooGallery –> Settings –> Images Tab. 2. Scroll down to the bottom of the page until you find a setting called Force GD Library. 3. Check this, and click on Save Changes. ![Force GD Library](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg'%20viewBox='0%200%20768%20153'%3E%3C/svg%3E) Your system should now be using GD Library. To confirm this, scroll to the top of the Image Settings page and check that the thumbnail library currently active is GD. Resources ## Find the right next step Use this grid for documentation indexes, support routes, account links, affiliate resources, and download pages. ![Image](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg'%20viewBox='0%200%200%200'%3E%3C/svg%3E) ### Documentation Search setup guides, product docs, and troubleshooting articles. [Browse docs](/documentation/) ![Image](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg'%20viewBox='0%200%200%200'%3E%3C/svg%3E) ### Support Open a ticket with product details so we can help quickly. [Get support](/support/) ![Image](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg'%20viewBox='0%200%200%200'%3E%3C/svg%3E) ### Licensing Review account, renewal, refund, and license information. [View details](/licensing/)