Upload Strategies

MakePhotos accepts images via URL or upload. Choose the right strategy for your use case.

Option 1: Public URL (simplest)

If your images are already hosted publicly, just pass the URL directly:

const result = await client.generate.create({
  imageUrl: 'https://your-cdn.com/products/shoe.jpg',
  type: 'product',
  style: 'studio',
});

No upload step needed. The MakePhotos server fetches the image directly.

Best for: Images already on a CDN, S3, or your own server.

Option 2: SDK upload (recommended for local files)

The SDK handles the signed upload flow automatically:

import { readFileSync } from 'fs';

const uploaded = await client.upload.create({
  file: readFileSync('./product.jpg'),
  filename: 'product.jpg',
});

const result = await client.generate.create({
  imageUrl: uploaded.imageUrl,
  type: 'product',
  style: 'studio',
});

Under the hood, the SDK:

1. Calls GET /api/v1/upload/signed to get Cloudinary upload credentials
2. Uploads the file directly to Cloudinary (no file size limit)
3. Returns the Cloudinary URL

Best for: Local files, server-side processing pipelines, any file size.

Option 3: Direct upload API (small files only)

For quick one-off uploads under 4.5MB:

curl -X POST "https://makephotos.ai/api/v1/upload?key=mk_live_..." \
  -F "file=@./small-product.jpg"

Best for: Quick testing, small thumbnails, simple integrations.

Limitation: 4.5MB max due to Vercel serverless body limits. Use signed upload for larger files.

Option 4: Signed upload (manual)

If you're not using the SDK and need to upload large files:

# Step 1: Get signed params
PARAMS=$(curl -s "https://makephotos.ai/api/v1/upload/signed?key=mk_live_...")

# Step 2: Upload to Cloudinary
curl -X POST "https://api.cloudinary.com/v1_1/dy2queuww/image/upload" \
  -F "file=@./large-product.jpg" \
  -F "api_key=$(echo $PARAMS | jq -r '.api_key')" \
  -F "timestamp=$(echo $PARAMS | jq -r '.timestamp')" \
  -F "signature=$(echo $PARAMS | jq -r '.signature')" \
  -F "folder=$(echo $PARAMS | jq -r '.folder')"

Best for: Non-Node.js environments, custom integrations, large files without the SDK.

Comparison

Supported formats

All methods support JPEG, PNG, WebP, and other common image formats supported by Cloudinary.

No credit cost

Uploading images is always free — credits are only consumed during generation and background removal.