Intervention/image · error · Intervention\Image\Exceptions\InvalidArgumentException

Imagick driver can only process colors from instances of

Error message

Imagick driver can only process colors from instances of 

What it means

The Imagick driver's colorProcessor()->import() accepts exactly one input type: a native ImagickPixel. Passing anything else — a hex string, an Rgb color object, an array — raises this InvalidArgumentException immediately, before any Imagick work starts. import() is the boundary that converts engine pixels into library color objects, and the engine only speaks ImagickPixel.

Solutions

1. Wrap the value in the expected type first: new ImagickPixel('#ff0000') — its constructor accepts the same color strings you tried to pass.
2. For user-facing color strings, use the driver's decodeColor() API instead of import().
3. Add an instanceof ImagickPixel check before calling import() whenever the value's origin is uncertain.

Example fix

// before
$color = $image->driver()->colorProcessor($image)->import('#ff0000');

// after
$color = $image->driver()->colorProcessor($image)->import(new \ImagickPixel('#ff0000'));

if (!$value instanceof \ImagickPixel) {
    $value = new \ImagickPixel((string) $value); // or reject the input
}
$color = $image->driver()->colorProcessor($image)->import($value);

function isImportableImagickColor(mixed $color): bool
{
    return $color instanceof \ImagickPixel;
}

try { $color = $processor->import($value); } catch (\Intervention\Image\Exceptions\InvalidArgumentException $e) { /* wrap the value in new ImagickPixel() and retry */ }

When it happens

Trigger: Calling $image->driver()->colorProcessor($image)->import('#ff0000'), ->import(new Rgb(255, 0, 0)), or ->import([255, 0, 0]) in driver-agnostic code — the same call may work under the GD driver, whose import expects a different native type, so the bug only surfaces after switching drivers.

Common situations: Shared utility code originally written and tested against GD, reused with the Imagick driver; integrating pixel values from other Imagick operations or user input.

Understand the failure class

Background: "Must be a positive integer", "Invalid value", "Unsupported": the invalid-argument-value error family, when a library rejects the value you pass — this error's family across 35 libraries.

Related errors

• Failed to import color from
• Argument $native must be of type
• Colorspace
• Failed to apply…
• GD driver can only decode colors in integer or array format

AI-assisted analysis of Intervention/image@5598b9e397 (2026-08-23). Data as JSON: /api/errors/2a33f7aef5d93cf3. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at src/Drivers/Imagick/ColorProcessor.php:98

                    $color->channel(Green::class)->value(),
                    $color->channel(Blue::class)->value(),
                    $color->channel(Alpha::class)->toString(),
                ),
            );
        } catch (ImagickException | ImagickPixelException $e) {
            throw new DriverException('Failed to create color', previous: $e);
        }
    }

    /**
     * @throws InvalidArgumentException
     * @throws DriverException
     * @throws NotSupportedException
     */
    public function import(mixed $color): ColorInterface
    {
        if (!$color instanceof ImagickPixel) {
            throw new InvalidArgumentException(
                'Imagick driver can only process colors from instances of ' . ImagickPixel::class,
            );
        }

        try {
            return match ($this->colorspace::class) {
                Cmyk::class => $this->colorspace->colorFromNormalized([
                    $color->getColorValue(Imagick::COLOR_CYAN),
                    $color->getColorValue(Imagick::COLOR_MAGENTA),
                    $color->getColorValue(Imagick::COLOR_YELLOW),
                    $color->getColorValue(Imagick::COLOR_BLACK),
                ]),
                Rgb::class => $this->colorspace->colorFromNormalized([
                    $color->getColorValue(Imagick::COLOR_RED),
                    $color->getColorValue(Imagick::COLOR_GREEN),
                    $color->getColorValue(Imagick::COLOR_BLUE),
                    $color->getColorValue(Imagick::COLOR_ALPHA),
                ]),

View on GitHub (pinned to 5598b9e397)