diff --git a/src/main/ImageOperations.js b/src/main/ImageOperations.js
index 69052de..5d2918c 100644
--- a/src/main/ImageOperations.js
+++ b/src/main/ImageOperations.js
@@ -4,12 +4,41 @@
  * Handles image manipulation via `sharp`: format conversion, resize, compress, rotate.
  * Mirrors the executeOperation(operation, data) dispatcher pattern used by PDFOperations.js.
  *
+ * sharp loads LAZILY: its native bindings (@img/sharp-*) are optionalDependencies
+ * that a packaged build can prune or fail to unpack, and a top-level require would
+ * then crash the whole app at boot (src/main.js requires this module unconditionally).
+ * When sharp cannot load, operations degrade honestly instead of killing the app —
+ * the same honest-failure precedent PDFOperations set for missing pdf-lib features.
+ *
  * @module ImageOperations
  */
 
 const fs = require('fs');
 const path = require('path');
-const sharp = require('sharp');
+
+let sharpModule = null;
+let sharpLoadError = null;
+
+function loadSharp() {
+  if (sharpModule) return sharpModule;
+  if (sharpLoadError) throw sharpLoadError;
+  try {
+    sharpModule = require('sharp');
+    return sharpModule;
+  } catch (error) {
+    sharpLoadError = error;
+    throw error;
+  }
+}
+
+// Strip absolute paths from error text before it reaches callers, mirroring
+// sanitizeErrorMessage() in main.js (that helper is not importable from here).
+function sanitizeMessage(message) {
+  if (typeof message !== 'string') return String(message);
+  return message
+    .replace(/[A-Z]:\\[^\s"']+\\([^\s"'\\]+)/gi, '$1')
+    .replace(/\/[^\s"']+\/([^\s"'/]+)/g, '$1');
+}
 
 // Must match the MAX_FILE_SIZE convention defined in main.js (50MB). main.js is the
 // single source of truth for this limit; this module does not redefine it independently
@@ -40,6 +69,7 @@ function validateInput(data) {
 
 async function imageConvert(data) {
   try {
+    const sharp = loadSharp();
     validateInput(data);
     const { inputPath, outputPath, format } = data;
 
@@ -57,6 +87,7 @@ async function imageConvert(data) {
 
 async function imageResize(data) {
   try {
+    const sharp = loadSharp();
     validateInput(data);
     const { inputPath, outputPath, width = null, height = null, fit = 'inside' } = data;
 
@@ -78,6 +109,7 @@ async function imageResize(data) {
 
 async function imageCompress(data) {
   try {
+    const sharp = loadSharp();
     validateInput(data);
     const { inputPath, outputPath, quality = 80 } = data;
 
@@ -116,6 +148,7 @@ async function imageCompress(data) {
 
 async function imageRotate(data) {
   try {
+    const sharp = loadSharp();
     validateInput(data);
     const { inputPath, outputPath, angle } = data;
 
@@ -132,6 +165,16 @@ async function imageRotate(data) {
 }
 
 function executeOperation(operation, data) {
+  try {
+    loadSharp();
+  } catch (error) {
+    // Honest degradation: the app keeps booting and every image op reports the
+    // unavailable state as a resolved result instead of throwing at import time.
+    return Promise.resolve({
+      success: false,
+      error: `Image operations unavailable: ${sanitizeMessage(error.message)}`,
+    });
+  }
   switch (operation) {
     case 'convert':
       return imageConvert(data);
diff --git a/tests/main/ImageOperations.test.js b/tests/main/ImageOperations.test.js
index 23233ba..635b758 100644
--- a/tests/main/ImageOperations.test.js
+++ b/tests/main/ImageOperations.test.js
@@ -68,3 +68,57 @@ describe('ImageOperations', () => {
     await expect(ImageOperations.executeOperation('bogus', {})).rejects.toThrow();
   });
 });
+
+describe('ImageOperations when sharp fails to load (boot resilience)', () => {
+  // Reproduces the packaged-deb crash: the native @img/sharp-* bindings are
+  // missing/pruned, so require('sharp') throws. Importing ImageOperations must
+  // never crash the app at boot, and every operation must degrade honestly.
+  const dlopenErrorMessage =
+    'Could not load the "sharp" module using the linux-x64 runtime. ' +
+    'ERR_DLOPEN_FAILED: libvips-cpp.so.8.17.3: cannot open shared object file ' +
+    '(searched /opt/MarkdownConverter/resources/app.asar.unpacked/node_modules/@img/' +
+    'sharp-linux-x64/lib, /opt/MarkdownConverter/resources/app.asar/node_modules/@img/' +
+    'sharp-linux-x64/lib, ...)';
+
+  let isolatedModule;
+
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    jest.resetModules();
+    jest.doMock('sharp', () => {
+      throw new Error(dlopenErrorMessage);
+    });
+    jest.isolateModules(() => {
+      isolatedModule = require('../../src/main/ImageOperations');
+    });
+  });
+
+  afterEach(() => {
+    jest.dontMock('sharp');
+  });
+
+  test('requiring ImageOperations does not throw at import time', () => {
+    expect(() => require('../../src/main/ImageOperations')).not.toThrow();
+  });
+
+  test("executeOperation('convert') resolves to an honest unavailable failure", async () => {
+    const result = await isolatedModule.executeOperation('convert', {
+      inputPath: '/tmp/imgops-resilience-in.png',
+      outputPath: '/tmp/imgops-resilience-out.jpg',
+      format: 'jpeg',
+    });
+    expect(result).toEqual({
+      success: false,
+      error: expect.stringContaining('Image operations unavailable'),
+    });
+  });
+
+  test('the unavailable failure message carries no absolute paths', async () => {
+    const result = await isolatedModule.executeOperation('rotate', {
+      inputPath: '/tmp/imgops-resilience-in.png',
+      outputPath: '/tmp/imgops-resilience-out.png',
+      angle: 90,
+    });
+    expect(result.success).toBe(false);
+    expect(result.error).not.toMatch(/\/opt\/|\/tmp\/|[A-Z]:\\/);
+  });
+});