Frequently Asked Questions

General Questions

What is an image origin?

An image origin is a place where the original image is stored. ImageEngine must be connected to the image origin to access the image which is to be optimized. ImageEngine will hold a copy of the original image fetched from the image origin. This way, your image origin is shielded from unnecessary traffic.

 

Does ImageEngine scale images up?

ImageEngine, as an image CDN, focuses on optimizing web pages by serving the smallest possible image with the least quality loss possible. The largest image we will serve is the original image stored in the origin server. We do not provide the ability to scale up images.

 

Can I use ImageEngine for native apps?

Yes. ImageEngine can be used in any context where images are delivered over HTTP(S). Read more about ImageEngine and native apps

 

How is quality affected by image optimizations?

The visual quality - the quality your users see with their bare eyes - is not noticeably degraded. We monitor the visual quality loss programmatically by using the SSIM metric.

 

How can I point my DNS to ImageEngine?

This is a feature currently offered only to our higher tier users. You can learn how to point your DNS to ImageEngine here.

If you are interested in adding this feature to your plan, please contact our Customer Success team.

 

Can I put Akamai, CloudFront, or Cloudflare in front of ImageEngine?

All tiers except "Starter" and our Legacy "Basic" and Standard" plans support 3rd party CDNs without risk of cache pollution. 

As an broad general rule, putting another CDN in front of ImageEngine while using the "Starter" plan is not recommended simply because ImageEngine will produce more variants of an image that the additional CDN is able to cache efficiently (cache pollution). 

 

Can I use my existing CDN as the origin?

Yes, be sure to check your CDN’s settings, restrictions and WAF to ensure that ImageEngine is not blocked from fetching images. Generally, it is possible as long as your existing CDN uses stable URLs for images. 

 

How can I purge the cache?

Depending on your plan, cache can be purged using our API and inside the control panel.

It is generally recommended to use a “cache buster” on your image urls to be less dependent on cache purging: “image.jpg?v=1”. Increment the ?v=n to force ImageEngine to fetch a new version of the image from the origin. 

 

Is cache purging available in the developer program?

We do not provide Cache Purging for the Dev program. Instead, we recommend making use of Image versioning via query string wherever possible.

Does ImageEngine have to serve every image on my site?

No. You can decide which images are to be served through ImageEngine.  All images referred to with the delivery address will be served with ImageEngine. You may also choose to serve images directly from the origin or other locations if desired. 

If you’re using one of our CMS plugins all images on the site will be served with ImageEngine by default. The plugins offer functionality to exclude certain images.

 

Can ImageEngine serve HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and other assets?

Yes. By default, when serving these types of content we will compress non-image files as Brotli files if the browser supports them. Be aware that large files such as PDFs may quickly use up your monthly usage limits and should likely not be served through ImageEngine.  

 

Directives (URL-based Image Transformations)

What are directives?

Directives are parameters that can be added to the query string to instruct ImageEngine how to optimize an image. Directives may be used to explicitly change the width, height, compression, format, and much more. 

 

ImageEngine Infrastructure

What is the user-agent of ImageEngine?

The user-agent if ImageEngine is `ImageEngine/1.0`. 

 

What is the IP address of ImageEngine servers?

As the ImageEngine system of hardware continuously scales up and down. the ImageEngine servers do not have fixed IP addresses.

 It is not recommended to use IP addresses in your firewall or WAF.

We recommend instead exploring allowing ImageEngine through server security via UserAgent. 

 

How many PoPs does ImageEngine have?

ImageEngine scales with the Amazon network by default. Additionally, we also have Points of Presence outside of the Amazon network. The number of PoPs will vary over time as global traffic patterns change.

The number of PoPs available may depend on the plan. Higher plans may have better global coverage.
When using the free developer program service, deployment will occur on a reduced number of PoPs, potentially leading to a slower time to first byte (TTFB). This is not present in the paid tiers.  

 

Can I use ImageEngine side by side with other CDNs?

You may use any other CDN to serve your website in combination with ImageEngine serving the images. 

 

Developer Program

 

What happens when my site exceeds the developer-tier quota limit?

When your subscription exceeds the monthly limit of 10 GB, ImageEngine will stop serving images and return an HTTP 429 status code. This means that no images will be displayed on your website. The quota will be reset at the beginning of the next month allowing another 10GB of traffic.

 

Can I use the Developer Program on a commercial site?

No, the free Developer Program can only be used on non-commercial and personal websites. If you need a commercial subscription you can add one to your user account in the control panel.

 

How can I get a subscription for commercial use?

You can add a dedicated subscription to your user account for commercial use. This subscription is in one of the commercial plans offered and includes the respective features. You keep your developer program subscription for personal use.

You can create the new subscription by clicking on the meatballs icon next to your subscription. Any new subscription added will appear in this drop-down menu for easy switching. 

 

Will I need to sign up with a different email to gain access to one of the paid tiers?

NUTSHELL: no. While signing up with a company email address is probably a good idea, creating a new account is not required, as you can add paid subscriptions to your existing account regardless of it being created to access the developer tier originally.

 

IE integration with CMSes, Tools and Frameworks

How can I integrate ImageEngine with my Content Management System?

ImageEngine offers plugins for Wordpress, Shopware, Magento and Prestashop. For other CMSs and ecommerce platforms changes to the template system may be required. This process is well documented. Even if your particular tech stack is not documented, the process is similar regardless of technology and it is possible to derive the process from other documentation. 

 

How can I use ImageEngine with a frontend framework?

Yes, ImageEngine offers plugins and modules for React, Angular, and Vue. Additionally, ImageEngine is natively built into NuxtImage and is also easy to integrate with frameworks offering custom image loaders. 

 

Can I use ImageEngine with a headless CMS?

For headless CMSs and other JAM-stack-like architectures,  React, Angular, and Vue are common frontend frameworks to consume the APIs. Our Gatsby module has built-in support for popular headless CMSs like Sanity.IO and Contentful.