thanks everybody for their feedback and suggestions.. i think i'll try sticking to repos.. i tried to use CPAN to install imagemagic on my machine, but it did not work.. image magic works fine on my web host though. so i tend to continually upload and look at 500 errors until things work (not very good, but it gets things done). actually now that i think of it, my example was shitty.. i don't ever recall installing the CGI mod -smiles to self- today is a new cup of coffee and a fresh start though...