Overview
Cloudinary is a media management platform — upload, transform, optimize, and deliver images/videos via CDN. On-the-fly transformations (resize, crop, format conversion, AI-based cropping) via URL parameters.
Instructions
Step 1: Upload
typescript
// lib/cloudinary.ts — Upload and transform
import { v2 as cloudinary } from 'cloudinary'
cloudinary.config({
cloud_name: process.env.CLOUDINARY_CLOUD_NAME,
api_key: process.env.CLOUDINARY_API_KEY,
api_secret: process.env.CLOUDINARY_API_SECRET,
})
// Upload image
const result = await cloudinary.uploader.upload(filePath, {
folder: 'products',
transformation: [
{ width: 1200, height: 1200, crop: 'limit' }, // max dimensions
{ quality: 'auto', fetch_format: 'auto' }, // auto-optimize
],
})
// result.secure_url → https://res.cloudinary.com/myapp/image/upload/v1234/products/abc.jpg
Step 2: URL Transformations
typescript
// Generate optimized URLs without re-uploading
function getImageUrl(publicId: string, options: { width: number; height: number }) {
return cloudinary.url(publicId, {
width: options.width,
height: options.height,
crop: 'fill',
gravity: 'auto', // AI-based smart crop
quality: 'auto', // auto quality
fetch_format: 'auto', // WebP/AVIF based on browser
dpr: 'auto', // device pixel ratio
})
}
// Responsive srcset
function getSrcSet(publicId: string) {
return [320, 640, 960, 1280, 1920]
.map(w => `${getImageUrl(publicId, { width: w, height: Math.round(w * 0.75) })} ${w}w`)
.join(', ')
}
Step 3: Next.js Integration
tsx
// next.config.js
module.exports = {
images: {
loader: 'cloudinary',
path: 'https://res.cloudinary.com/myapp/image/upload/',
},
}
// Or use next-cloudinary
import { CldImage } from 'next-cloudinary'
<CldImage
src="products/sneakers"
width={800}
height={600}
crop="fill"
gravity="auto"
alt="Product image"
sizes="(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 50vw"
/>
Guidelines
- Always use
quality: 'auto'andfetch_format: 'auto'— Cloudinary picks the best format/quality. gravity: 'auto'uses AI to detect the subject and crop intelligently.- Use signed uploads for user-generated content — prevents abuse.
- Set upload presets for consistent transformations across your app.
- Free tier: 25 credits/month (~25K transformations or 25GB storage).