PHP

ImageKit's PHP SDK provides comprehensive yet straightforward asset upload, transformation, optimization, and delivery capabilities that you can implement seamlessly in your existing PHP application.

This quick start guide shows you how to integrate ImageKit into your PHP application. The code samples covered here are hosted on Github.

This guide walks you through the following topics:

Setting up ImageKit PHP SDK

Prerequisites

To use ImageKit PHP SDK, you must be using PHP version 5.6.0 or later with JSON PHP Extension and cURL PHP Extension enabled.

Create a new Project

Let's create a dummy project called sample using composer in a folder.

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composer init --name imagekit/sample --type project

It will prompt a few options. Select defaults by pressing enter.

Install imagekit/imagekit using Composer

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composer require imagekit/imagekit

Quick Examples

Create an ImageKit Instance

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// Import autoloader from vendor
// If not using PSR-4 is not configured in composer.json file for your project
require_once __DIR__ . '/vendor/autoload.php';

use ImageKit\ImageKit;  
  
// For demonstration purposes, the documentation would use https://ik.imagekit.io/demo as urlEndpoint
$imageKit = new ImageKit(
    "publicKey",
    "privateKey",
    "urlEndpoint"
);

publicKey and privateKey parameters are required as these would be used for all ImageKit API, server-side upload, and generating token for client-side file upload. You can get these parameters from the developer section in your ImageKit dashboard - https://imagekit.io/dashboard/developer/api-keys.
urlEndpoint is also a required parameter. You can get the value of URL endpoint from your ImageKit dashboard - https://imagekit.io/dashboard/url-endpoints.

URL Generation

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// For URL Generation
$imageURL = $imageKit->url(
    [
        'path' => '/default-image.jpg',
    ]
);
echo $imageURL;
// https://ik.imagekit.io/demo/default-image.jpg

File Upload

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// For File Upload
$uploadFile = $imageKit->uploadFile([
    'file' => 'file-url',
    'fileName' => 'new-file'
]);

Response Structure

Following is the response for Server Side File Upload API

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{
    "error": null,
    "result": {
        "fileId": "6286329dfef1b033aee60211",
        "name": "your_file_name_S-PgGysnR.jpg",
        "size": 94466,
        "versionInfo": {
            "id": "6286329dfef1b033aee60211",
            "name": "Version 1"
        },
        "filePath": "/your_file_name_S-PgGysnR.jpg",
        "url": "https://ik.imagekit.io/demo/your_file_name_S-PgGysnR.jpg",
        "fileType": "image",
        "height": 640,
        "width": 960,
        "thumbnailUrl": "https://ik.imagekit.io/demo/tr:n-ik_ml_thumbnail/your_file_name_S-PgGysnR.jpg",
        "tags": [],
        "AITags": null,
        "customMetadata": { },
        "extensionStatus": {}
    },
    "responseMetadata":{
        "headers":{
            "access-control-allow-origin": "*",
            "x-ik-requestid": "e98f2464-2a86-4934-a5ab-9a226df012c9",
            "content-type": "application/json; charset=utf-8",
            "content-length": "434",
            "etag": "W/"1b2-reNzjRCFNt45rEyD7yFY/dk+Ghg"",
            "date": "Thu, 16 Jun 2022 14:22:01 GMT",
            "x-request-id": "e98f2464-2a86-4934-a5ab-9a226df012c9"
        },
        "raw":{
            "fileId": "6286329dfef1b033aee60211",
            "name": "your_file_name_S-PgGysnR.jpg",
            "size": 94466,
            "versionInfo": {
                "id": "6286329dfef1b033aee60211",
                "name": "Version 1"
            },
            "filePath": "/your_file_name_S-PgGysnR.jpg",
            "url": "https://ik.imagekit.io/demo/your_file_name_S-PgGysnR.jpg",
            "fileType": "image",
            "height": 640,
            "width": 960,
            "thumbnailUrl": "https://ik.imagekit.io/demo/tr:n-ik_ml_thumbnail/your_file_name_S-PgGysnR.jpg",
            "tags": [],
            "AITags": null,
            "customMetadata": { },
            "extensionStatus": {}
        },
        "statusCode":200
    }
}

Generating URL for rendering images

ImageKit provides inbuilt media storage and integration with external origins. Refer to the documentation to learn more about URL endpoints and external storages supported by ImageKit.

Using Image path and image hostname or endpoint

This method allows you to create a URL using the image's path and the ImageKit URL endpoint (urlEndpoint) you want to use to access the image.

Example

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$imageURL = $imageKit->url(
    [
        'path' => '/default-image.jpg', 
        'transformation' => [
            [
                'height' => '300', 
                'width' => '400'
            ]
        ]
    ]
);

Response

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https://ik.imagekit.io/demo/tr:h-300,w-400/default-image.jpg

Using full image URL

This method allows you to add transformation parameters to an absolute ImageKit-powered URL. This method should be used if you have the absolute URL stored in your database.

Example

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$imageURL = $imageKit->url([
    'src' => 'https://example.com/default-image.jpg',
    'transformation' => [
        [
            'height' => '300',
            'width' => '400'
        ]
    ]
]);

Response

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https://example.com/tr:h-300,w-400/default-image.jpg

The $imageKit->url() method accepts the following parameters.

Option	Description
urlEndpoint	Optional. The base URL is to be appended before the path of the image. If not specified, the URL Endpoint specified at the time of SDK initialization is used. For example, https://ik.imagekit.io/your_imagekit_id/endpoint/
path	Conditional. This is the path on which the image exists. For example, `/path/to/image.jpg`. Either the `path` or `src` parameter needs to be specified for URL generation.
src	Conditional. This is the complete URL of an image already mapped to ImageKit. For example, `https://ik.imagekit.io/your_imagekit_id/endpoint/path/to/image.jpg`. Either the `path` or `src` parameter needs to be specified for URL generation.
transformation	Optional. An array of objects specifying the transformation to be applied in the URL. The transformation name and the value should be specified as a key-value pair in the object. Different steps of a chained transformation can be specified as different objects of the array. The complete List of supported transformations in the SDK and some examples of using them are given later. If you use a transformation name that is not specified in the SDK, it gets applied as it is in the URL.
transformationPosition	Optional. The default value is `path` which places the transformation string as a path parameter in the URL. It can also be specified as `query`, which adds the transformation string as the query parameter `tr` in the URL. If you use the `src` parameter to create the URL, the transformation string is always added as a query parameter.
queryParameters	Optional. These are the other query parameters that you want to add to the final URL. These can be any query parameters and are not necessarily related to ImageKit. Especially useful if you want to add some versioning parameters to your URLs.
signed	Optional. Boolean. The default value is `false`. If set to `true`, the SDK generates a signed image URL adding the image signature to the image URL.
expireSeconds	Optional. Integer. It is used along with the `signed` parameter. It specifies the time in seconds from now when the signed URL will expire. If specified, the URL contains the expiry timestamp in the URL, and the image signature is modified accordingly.

Applying Chained Transformations, Common Image Manipulations & Signed URL

This section covers the basics:

The PHP SDK gives a name to each transformation parameter e.g. height for h and width for w parameter. It makes your code more readable. See the Full list of supported transformations.

👉 If the property does not match any of the available options, it is added as it is.\ e.g

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[
    'effectGray' => 'e-grayscale'
]
// and
[
    'e-grayscale' => ''
]
// works the same

👉 Note that you can also use the h and w parameters instead of height and width.

For more examples check the demo application.

Chained Transformations as a query parameter

Example

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$imageURL = $imageKit->url([
    'path' => '/default-image.jpg',
    'urlEndpoint' => 'https://ik.imagekit.io/demo/', 
    'transformation' => [
        [
            'height' => '300',
            'width' => '400'
        ],
        [
            'rotation' => 90
        ],
    ], 
    'transformationPosition' => 'query'
]);

Response

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https://ik.imagekit.io/demo/default-image.jpg?tr=h-300,w-400:rt-90

Image enhancement and color manipulation

Some transformations like Contrast stretch, Sharpen and Unsharp mask can be added to the URL with or without any other value. To use such transforms without specifying a value, specify the value as "-" in the transformation object. Otherwise, specify the value that you want to be added to this transformation.

Example

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$imageURL = $imageKit->url([
    'src' => 'https://ik.imagekit.io/demo/default-image.jpg', 
    'transformation' => 
    [
        [
            'format' => 'jpg', 
            'progressive' => true,
            'effectSharpen' => '-', 
            'effectContrast' => '1'
        ]
    ]
]);

Response

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https://ik.imagekit.io/demo/tr:f-jpg,pr-true,e-sharpen,e-contrast-1/default-image.jpg

Resizing images

Let's resize the image to a width of 400 and a height of 300. Check detailed instructions on Resize, Crop, and Other Common Transformations.

Example

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$imageURL = $imageKit->url(array(
    'path' => '/default-image.jpg',
    'transformation' => [
        [
            'height' => '300',
            'width' => '400',
        ]
    ]
));

Response

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https://ik.imagekit.io/demo/tr:w-400,h-300/default-image.jpg

Quality manipulation

You can use the Quality Parameter to change quality like this.

Example

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$imageURL = $imageKit->url(array(
    'path' => '/default-image.jpg',
    'transformation' => [
        [
            'quality' => '40',
        ]
    ]
));

Response

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https://ik.imagekit.io/demo/tr:q-40/default-image.jpg

Adding overlays

ImageKit.io enables you to apply overlays to images and videos using the raw parameter with the concept of layers. The raw parameter facilitates incorporating transformations directly in the URL. A layer is a distinct type of transformation that allows you to define an asset to serve as an overlay, along with its positioning and additional transformations.

Text as overlays

You can add any text string over a base video or image using a text layer (l-text).

For example:

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$imageURL = $imageKit->url(array(
    'path' => '/default-image.jpg',
    'urlEndpoint' => 'https://ik.imagekit.io/your_imagekit_id'
    
    'transformation' => [
        [
            'height' => '300',
            'width' => '400',
            'raw': "l-text,i-Imagekit,fs-50,l-end"
        ]
    ]
));

Sample Result URL

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https://ik.imagekit.io/your_imagekit_id/tr:h-300,w-400,l-text,i-Imagekit,fs-50,l-end/default-image.jpg

Output Image:

Image as overlays

You can add an image over a base video or image using an image layer (l-image).

For example:

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$imageURL = $imageKit->url(array(
    'path' => '/default-image.jpg',
    'urlEndpoint' => 'https://ik.imagekit.io/your_imagekit_id'
    
    'transformation' => [
        [
            'height' => '300',
            'width' => '400',
            'raw': "l-image,i-default-image.jpg,w-100,b-10_CDDC39,l-end"
        ]
    ]
));

Sample Result URL

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https://ik.imagekit.io/your_imagekit_id/tr:h-300,w-400,l-image,i-default-image.jpg,w-100,b-10_CDDC39,l-end/default-image.jpg

Output Image:

Solid color blocks as overlays

You can add solid color blocks over a base video or image using an image layer (l-image).

For example:

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$imageURL = $imageKit->url(array(
    'path' => '/default-image.jpg',
    'urlEndpoint' => 'https://ik.imagekit.io/your_imagekit_id'
    
    'transformation' => [
        [
            'height' => '300',
            'width' => '400',
            'raw': "l-image,i-ik_canvas,bg-FF0000,w-300,h-100,l-end"
        ]
    ]
));

Sample Result URL

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https://ik.imagekit.io/your_imagekit_id/tr:h-300,w-400,l-image,i-ik_canvas,bg-FF0000,w-300,h-100,l-end/default-image.jpg

Output Image:

Signed URL

Signed URL that expires in 300 seconds with the default URL endpoint and other query parameters. For a detailed explanation of the Signed URL refer to this Official Doc.

Example

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$imageURL = $imageKit->url([
    "path" => "/default-image.jpg",
    "queryParameters" => 
    [
        "v" => "123"
    ],
    "transformation" => [
        [
            "height" => "300",
            "width" => "400"
        ]
    ],
    "signed" => true,
    "expireSeconds" => 300,
]);

Response

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https://ik.imagekit.io/your_imagekit_id/tr:h-300,w-400/default-image.jpg?v=123&ik-t=1654183277&ik-s=f98618f264a9ccb3c017e7b7441e86d1bc9a7ebb

You can manage Security Settings from the dashboard to prevent unsigned URLs usage. In that case, if the URL doesn't have a signature ik-s parameter or the signature is invalid, ImageKit will return a forbidden error instead of an actual image.

List of supported transformations

The complete list of transformations supported and their usage in ImageKit can be found here. The SDK gives a name to each transformation parameter, making the code simpler and readable. If a transformation is supported in ImageKit, but a name for it cannot be found in the table below, use the transformation code from ImageKit docs as the name when using it in the url function.

Supported Transformation Name	Translates to parameter
height	h
width	w
aspectRatio	ar
quality	q
crop	c
cropMode	cm
x	x
y	y
focus	fo
format	f
radius	r
background	bg
border	b
rotation	rt
blur	bl
named	n
progressive	pr
lossless	lo
trim	t
metadata	md
colorProfile	cp
defaultImage	di
dpr	dpr
effectSharpen	e-sharpen
effectUSM	e-usm
effectContrast	e-contrast
effectGray	e-grayscale
effectShadow	e-shadow
effectGradient	e-gradient
original	orig
raw	`replaced by the parameter value`

Server-side File Upload

The SDK provides a simple interface using the $imageKit->uploadFile() or $imageKit->uploadFile() method to upload files to the ImageKit Media Library. Check all the supported parameters and details.

Example

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$uploadFile = $imageKit->uploadFile([
    'file' => 'your_file',              //  required, "binary","base64" or "file url"
    'fileName' => 'your_file_name.jpg', //  required
]);

Response

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{
    "error": null,
    "result": {
        "fileId": "6286329dfef1b033aee60211",
        "name": "your_file_name_S-PgGysnR.jpg",
        "size": 94466,
        "versionInfo": {
            "id": "6286329dfef1b033aee60211",
            "name": "Version 1"
        },
        "filePath": "/your_file_name_S-PgGysnR.jpg",
        "url": "https://ik.imagekit.io/demo/your_file_name_S-PgGysnR.jpg",
        "fileType": "image",
        "height": 640,
        "width": 960,
        "thumbnailUrl": "https://ik.imagekit.io/demo/tr:n-ik_ml_thumbnail/your_file_name_S-PgGysnR.jpg",
        "tags": [],
        "AITags": null,
        "customMetadata": { },
        "extensionStatus": {}
    },
    "responseMetadata":{
        "headers":{
            "access-control-allow-origin": "*",
            "x-ik-requestid": "e98f2464-2a86-4934-a5ab-9a226df012c9",
            "content-type": "application/json; charset=utf-8",
            "content-length": "434",
            "etag": "W/"1b2-reNzjRCFNt45rEyD7yFY/dk+Ghg"",
            "date": "Thu, 16 Jun 2022 14:22:01 GMT",
            "x-request-id": "e98f2464-2a86-4934-a5ab-9a226df012c9"
        },
        "raw":{
            "fileId": "6286329dfef1b033aee60211",
            "name": "your_file_name_S-PgGysnR.jpg",
            "size": 94466,
            "versionInfo": {
                "id": "6286329dfef1b033aee60211",
                "name": "Version 1"
            },
            "filePath": "/your_file_name_S-PgGysnR.jpg",
            "url": "https://ik.imagekit.io/demo/your_file_name_S-PgGysnR.jpg",
            "fileType": "image",
            "height": 640,
            "width": 960,
            "thumbnailUrl": "https://ik.imagekit.io/demo/tr:n-ik_ml_thumbnail/your_file_name_S-PgGysnR.jpg",
            "tags": [],
            "AITags": null,
            "customMetadata": { },
            "extensionStatus": {}
        },
        "statusCode":200
    }
}

Optional Parameters

Please refer to Server Side File Upload - Request Structure for detailed explanation about mandatory and optional parameters.

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// Attempt File Uplaod
$uploadFile = $imageKit->uploadFile([
    'file' => 'your_file',                  //  required, "binary","base64" or "file url"
    'fileName' => 'your_file_name.jpg',     //  required
    // Optional Parameters
    "useUniqueFileName" => true,            // true|false
    "tags" => implode(",",["abd", "def"]),  // max: 500 chars
    "folder" => "/sample-folder",           
    "isPrivateFile" => false,               // true|false
    "customCoordinates" => implode(",", ["10", "10", "100", "100"]),    // max: 500 chars
    "responseFields" => implode(",", ["tags", "customMetadata"]),
    "extensions" => [       
        [
            "name" => "remove-bg",
            "options" => [
                "add_shadow" => true
            ]
        ]
    ],
    "webhookUrl" => "https://example.com/webhook",
    "overwriteFile" => true,        // in case of false useUniqueFileName should be true
    "overwriteAITags" => true,      // set to false in order to preserve overwriteAITags
    "overwriteTags" => true,
    "overwriteCustomMetadata" => true,
    // "customMetadata" => [
    //         "SKU" => "VS882HJ2JD",
    //         "price" => 599.99,
    // ]
    'transformation' => [ 
        'pre' => 'l-text,i-Imagekit,fs-50,l-end', 
        'post' => [
            [ 
                'type' => 'transformation', 
                'value' => 'h-100' 
            ]
        ]
    ],
]);

Media management

The SDK provides easy-to-use methods for all APIs. Learn more from the SDK documentation.

Utility Functions

We have included the following commonly used utility functions in this SDK.

Authentication parameter generation

If you want to implement client-side file upload, you will need a token, expiry timestamp, and a valid signature for that upload. The SDK provides a simple method that you can use in your code to generate these authentication parameters for you.

The Private API Key should never be exposed in any client-side code. Instead, you must always generate these authentication parameters on the server side.

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$imageKit->getAuthenticationParameters($token = "", $expire = 0);

It will return

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{
    "token": "5d1c4a22-54f2-40bb-9e8c-99daaeeb7307",
    "expire": 1654207193,
    "signature": "a03a88b814570a3d92919c16a1b8bd4491f053c3"
}

Both the token and expire parameters are optional. If not specified, the SDK internally generates a random token and a valid expiry timestamp. The value of the token and expire used to generate the signature is always returned in the response, whether it is provided as an input to this method or not.

Distance calculation between two pHash values

Perceptual hashing allows you to construct a hash value that uniquely identifies an input image based on the contents of an image. ImageKit.io metadata API returns the pHash value of an image in the response. You can use this value to find a duplicate (or similar) image by calculating the distance between the pHash value of the two images.

This SDK exposes the pHashDistance function to calculate the distance between two pHash values. It accepts two pHash hexadecimal strings and returns a numeric value indicative of the level of difference between the two images.

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$imageKit->pHashDistance($firstHash ,$secondHash);

Distance calculation examples

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$imageKit->pHashDistance('f06830ca9f1e3e90', 'f06830ca9f1e3e90');
// output: 0 (same image)

$imageKit->pHashDistance('2d5ad3936d2e015b', '2d6ed293db36a4fb');
// output: 17 (similar images)

$imageKit->pHashDistance('a4a65595ac94518b', '7838873e791f8400');
// output: 37 (dissimilar images)