Introduction:
Image editing APIs can be powerful when one wants to enhance user experiences and streamline application functionalities. We have seen that Integrating such APIs with low-code platforms like Retool can play an important role in web applications, enabling you to incorporate advanced image editing capabilities without diving deep into complex coding.
Let's talk about some use cases.
- Real-time photo editors. With image editing APIs, you can allow your users to adjust the brightness, and contrast, and apply filters on their uploaded photos without leaving your app. This can be especially handy for social media platforms or any app that deals with user-generated content.
- E-commerce. Imagine a product customization tool where customers can upload images of products or designs they like, and then use the image editing features to crop, rotate, or add text to visualize their custom product before making a purchase. This can significantly enhance the shopping experience and boost customer engagement.
- For content management systems or blogging platforms, image editing APIs can automate the process of resizing or optimizing images for web use. You can also implement features like face detection to automatically crop profile pictures or create thumbnails.
This blog post explores some of the top image editing APIs that can be integrated into Retool.
What is an Image Editing API?
An Image Editing API (Application Programming Interface) allows processing or manipulating the images programmatically. Imagine it as a magic box where you put in raw images and receive perfectly adjusted, resized, or transformed images out the other side, all within the low-code environment. These APIs provide a bridge between low-code applications and complex image processing services, enabling functionalities that were once the exclusive domain of skilled developers.
Why Low-code Developers Should Care About Image Editing APIs:
Integrating an image editing API into Retool or similar platforms can enhance the app’s functionality, allowing you to:
- Automatically resize or crop images as per the UI’s requirement.
- Enhance image quality, add filters, or adjust colors without any manual intervention.
- Handle batch processing of images, saving time and reducing errors.
List of the Image Editing APIs:
- Image Background Manipulation API
- Image Filter API
- Image Watermark API
- Image resize API
- Image Optimisation API
- Image Export API
- Image Metadata API
Background Manipulation API:
The Background Manipulation API offers developers a simple way to modify the background of images programmatically. With this API, developers can remove, replace, or edit the background of an image to create visually appealing results. The change the background and remove the background are two examples.
The API supports these image formats: JPEG, JPG, PNG, WebP, BMP, GIF, and TIFF.
Output of original image after changing background.
Why is it cool? Because of the API Playground, developers can try out the API before connecting it to their live application.
Image Filter API:
The Image Filter API offers a collection of filters and adjustments that can be applied to all sorts of images. It includes artistic, vintage, and modern filters that transform the visual aesthetics of an image. ApyHub's Image Filters API allows developers to apply filters such as image rotation, brightness adjustments, flipping, or Gaussian blur to enhance the aesthetics of the images.
The API supports these image formats: JPEG, JPG, PNG, HEIC, SVG, WebP, BMP, GIF, and TIFF.
Output of original image after adding filter.
Image Watermark API:
The Image Watermark API can protect digital assets by adding watermarks to these images. Developers can choose to add text or image watermarks, such as logos or signatures. ApyHub’s Image Watermarking API allows developers to easily apply text and image watermarks on images.
The API supports the following image formats: JPEG, JPG, PNG, HEIC, WebP, BMP, GIF, and TIFF.
Output of image after adding watermark: Left (Text Watermark) and Right (Image Watermark)
Image Resize API:
The Image Resize API allows developers to dynamically resize images while maintaining their visual quality. It offers the flexibility to easily adjust the dimensions, aspect ratio, and resolution of images to suit various display requirements. ApyHub’s Image Resize API can resize any image by specifying the desired width and height.
The API supports the following image formats: PNG, JPEG, and JPG.
Output of image after getting resized: Left (Original Image) and Right ( Resized Image)
Image Optimization API:
The Image Optimization API can be used to reduce image sizes without compromising visual quality. The API employs advanced compression techniques to optimize images for faster loading times and improved user experiences. ApyHub’s WebP Conversion API can convert any PNG, SVG, and JPEG format to WebP, and HEIC to PNG Conversion API can easily convert large-size iPhone images to PNG.
Output of image after getting transformed to WebP: Top (Original Image) and Bottom ( Converted Image)
Image Export API:
The Image Export API provides the capability to convert images into various formats ( eg. PDF). It gives developers the flexibility to choose the format that best suits their needs. This API ensures compatibility across different platforms and devices. ApyHub’s Image to PDF API can easily convert an Image to a PDF document.
The API supports these image formats: JPEG, JPG, and PNG
Image showing export image to PDF Mode
Image Metadata API:
The Image Metadata API extracts valuable information embedded within images. It reads and interprets metadata, such as camera settings, location data, copyright details, and more. ApyHub’s Extract Metadata API can fetch the metadata of the image such as height, width, size, format, and quality.
The API supports the following image formats: JPEG, JPG, PNG, HEIC, SVG, WebP, BMP, GIF, and TIFF.
Image showing metadata of image in JSON Format
