How to Use imageoptim in Middleman

Using imageoptim in middleman isn’t very straightforward on ubuntu. Here is how I did it.

Install and Prepare the imageoptim Middleman Extension

• Update ruby and install middleman-imageoptim

  gem update
  gem install middleman-imageoptim
  

• Add imageoptim to config.rb

  configure :build do
  activate :imageoptim
  end
  

• Add imageoptim to Gemfile

  gem "middleman-imageoptim"
  

Install and Prepare the image_optim ruby gem

• install image_optim

  gem install image_optim
  

• Install dependencies

  sudo apt-get install -y advancecomp gifsicle jhead jpegoptim libjpeg-progs optipng pngcrush pngquant
  

• Install pngout

  • Download the static linux binary from here. (I observed no real difference between the static vs. non-static)

  • Extract it

  • Open the x86_64 folder

  • rename the file to pngout

  • Open a terminal at that location and run

    sudo cp pngout /usr/bin
    

Now it should work! The optimization may take a while if you have a lot of images.