PL/IMAGE — Image Manipulation for Oracle Applications

Load, transform, composite and save images directly from PL/SQL using Oracle BLOBs. PL/IMAGE provides a complete imaging pipeline with precise resizing, geometric edits, alpha blending, overlays and stitching without leaving your database environment.

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Process images where your Oracle data already lives

PL/IMAGE is designed for Oracle applications that manage user uploads, product photos, or document scans stored as BLOBs. It operates entirely within the database without requiring external file system directories or OS utilities.

Independent BLOB LOBs

Input source BLOBs are borrowed and never modified. Returned image BLOBs are independent temporary LOBs owned by the caller.

Complete editing suite

Crop, resize, thumbnail, rotate, flip, pad, border, normalize orientation, adjust grayscale, invert, threshold, flatten, overlay, and stitch images.

PNG and JPEG codecs

Load PNG or baseline JPEG sources and save edited pixels back to PNG or JPEG with fine-grained control over compression and quality.

Choose the image API that matches your workflow

Manage session-local image contexts through simple lifecycle functions and powerful mutation procedures.

Load and Save

Decode source blobs into independent references, apply transformations in order, and encode to output.

l_image := pl_image.load_image(l_blob);

l_result := pl_image.save_image(
  p_image           => l_image,
  p_format          => 'JPEG',
  p_jpeg_quality    => 85
);

Geometric Edits

Normalize EXIF orientations, resize with advanced filters, or crop and thumbnail with exact alignment options.

pl_image.normalize_orientation(l_image);

pl_image.resize(
  p_image  => l_image,
  p_width  => 800,
  p_filter => 'AUTO'
);

Compositing

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Overlay watermarks with source-over opacity or stitch multiple image collections horizontally or vertically.

pl_image.overlay(
  p_image   => l_image,
  p_overlay => l_watermark,
  p_x       => 10,
  p_y       => 10,
  p_opacity => 0.8
);

Built for precise pixel and color fidelity

Image interpolation and compositing use premultiplied-alpha arithmetic on encoded sRGB values, converted back to straight alpha for robust storage and output.

Sizing and filter modes

Choose from AUTO, NEAREST, BILINEAR, or AREA filters. AUTO uses area averaging on shrinking axes and linear interpolation on enlarging axes.

Thumbnail fitting options

CONTAIN maintains proportion inside target bounds without padding, while COVER fills and crops to exact dimensions with customizable alignments.

EXIF orientation management

Inspect orientation tags (1 through 8) via info records and consume them explicitly with normalize_orientation before geometric edits.

A predictable codec and color policy

Output formats are handled cleanly with dedicated options for PNG compression levels, filters, and JPEG quality metrics.

PNG Output Defaults

Non-interlaced 8-bit Gray, RGB, Gray-alpha, and RGBA
Compression levels 1 through 9
Filter choices: NONE or ADAPTIVE
Preserves full alpha transparency channel

JPEG and Flattening

Baseline JPEG output supports 8-bit grayscale or YCbCr. Because JPEG does not support transparency, any non-opaque image pixels require an explicit flatten operation with a chosen background color before saving.

Designed for robust transaction safety

Automatic Context Cleanup

Failed loads and processing exceptions automatically release internal working data and close session contexts without leaking memory.

No Transaction Side-Effects

The package does not commit or roll back the caller’s transaction, and avoids any dependency on Oracle DIRECTORY objects.

Normalized Colors

Colors are specified using normalized records (0 to 1 range for red, green, blue, and alpha) with convenient constructors like rgba().

Process images before embedding them into PDF reports.

Combine PL/IMAGE with PL/PDF to dynamically resize, watermark, or crop photos and charts inside Oracle before generating final customer documentation.

Explore PL/PDF →

Comprehensive API Scope

A full overview of the core functions and procedures available in the PL/IMAGE package specification.

Lifecycle & Geometry

load_image and save_image
crop (exact pixel coordinates)
resize (with multiple sampling filters)
thumbnail (CONTAIN and COVER modes)
rotate and flip (axes)
pad and border additions
normalize_orientation (EXIF 1–8)

Color, Overlay & Stitching

grayscale, invert, and threshold
flatten (background color removal)
overlay (source-over with opacity)
stitch (horizontal or vertical layouts)
get_info (format, dimensions, depth)
rgba color constructor utility

Image processing for real Oracle workflows

Empower your database applications to handle images seamlessly before storage, distribution, or report rendering.

User Avatars & Scans

Standardize uploaded profile pictures, ID scans, and document attachments to uniform dimensions upon ingestion.

Watermarking

Apply transparent branding overlays or confidentiality notices directly onto images before publishing.

Collages & Stitching

Combine multiple photographic evidence items or product shots into clean composite images.

Try PL/IMAGE

Request access to a hosted sandbox, or evaluate PL/IMAGE in your own Oracle environment with an install kit and evaluation key.

Try PL/IMAGE

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