API Reference

The Tinify API allows you to compress and optimize JPEG and PNG images. It is designed as a REST service. This page describes the raw HTTP API. We also maintain client libraries in various languages that make it very easy to interact with the Tinify API.

The API is hosted at api.tinify.com.

Authentication

To use the API you must provide your API key. You can get an API key by registering with your name and email address. Always keep your API key secret!

Authentication to the API is done with HTTP Basic Auth. All requests require an Authorization header that contains a Base64 digest of the authentication string api:YOUR_API_KEY where YOUR_API_KEY is the key that can be found on your API account page.

All requests must be made over an encrypted HTTPS connection.

Compressing images

You can upload any JPEG or PNG image to the Tinify API to compress it. We will automatically detect the type of image and optimise with the TinyPNG or TinyJPG engine accordingly. Your image is automatically compressed as soon as you upload or provide the URL to the image.

Example upload from file

You can upload a local file. The post data contains the image binary.

POST /shrink HTTP/1.1
Host: api.tinify.com
Authorization: Basic YXBpOmFiY2RlZmdoaWprbG1ub3BxcnN0dXZ3eHl6MDEyMzQ1

[binary]

HTTP/1.1 201 Created
Compression-Count: 1
Location: https://api.tinify.com/output/2xnsp7jn34e5.jpg
Content-Type: application/json; charset=utf-8

{
  "input": {
    "size": 207565,
    "type": "image/jpeg"
  }
}

For example, if you have a file named unoptimized.jpg in the current directory:

curl https://api.tinify.com/shrink \
     --user api:YOUR_API_KEY \
     --data-binary @unoptimized.jpg \
     --dump-header /dev/stdout

Example upload from URL

You can also provide a URL to your image instead of having to upload it. The API accepts a JSON body with the image URL as a source location.

POST /shrink HTTP/1.1
Host: api.tinify.com
Authorization: Basic YXBpOmFiY2RlZmdoaWprbG1ub3BxcnN0dXZ3eHl6MDEyMzQ1
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "source": {
    "url": "https://cdn.tinypng.com/images/panda-happy.png"
  }
}

HTTP/1.1 201 Created
Compression-Count: 1
Location: https://api.tinify.com/output/cciutldm823k9e9r.png
Content-Type: application/json; charset=utf-8

{
  "output": {
    "size": 30734,
    "type": "image/png"
  }
}

For example, if you have https://cdn.tinypng.com/images/panda-happy.png as your source:

curl https://api.tinify.com/shrink \
     --user api:YOUR_API_KEY \
     --header "Content-Type: application/json" \
     --data '{"source": {"url": "https://cdn.tinypng.com/images/panda-happy.png"} }' \
     --dump-header /dev/stdout

Example download request

The compressed image can be retrieved by using the URL in the Location header from the previous step.

GET /output/2xnsp7jn34e5.jpg HTTP/1.1
Host: api.tinify.com
Authorization: Basic YXBpOmFiY2RlZmdoaWprbG1ub3BxcnN0dXZ3eHl6MDEyMzQ1

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Compression-Count: 1
Image-Width: 530
Image-Height: 300
Content-Type: image/jpeg
Content-Length: 46480

[binary]

For example, you can save the compressed image to a file named optimized.jpg and open it:

curl https://api.tinify.com/output/2xnsp7jn34e5.jpg \
     --user api:YOUR_API_KEY \
     --output optimized.jpg

open optimized.jpg

Resizing images

Use the API to create resized versions of your uploaded images. By letting the API handle resizing you avoid having to write such code yourself and you will only have to upload your image once. The resized images will be optimally compressed with a nice and crisp appearance.

You can also take advantage of intelligent cropping to create thumbnails that focus on the most visually important areas of your image.

Resizing counts as one additional compression. For example, if you upload a single image and retrieve the optimized version plus 2 resized versions this will count as 3 compressions in total.

Example resize request

You can resize an image by using the URL that was returned in the Location header after compressing. A JSON request body has to be provided together with a Content-Type: application/json header.

GET /output/2xnsp7jn34e5.jpg HTTP/1.1
Host: api.tinify.com
Authorization: Basic YXBpOmFiY2RlZmdoaWprbG1ub3BxcnN0dXZ3eHl6MDEyMzQ1
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "resize": {
    "method": "fit",
    "width": 150,
    "height": 100
  }
}

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Compression-Count: 2
Content-Type: image/jpeg
Image-Width: 150
Image-Height: 85
Content-Length: 12594

[binary]

For example, to save the resized and compressed image to a file named thumbnail.jpg:

curl https://api.tinify.com/output/2xnsp7jn34e5.jpg \
     --user api:YOUR_API_KEY \
     --header "Content-Type: application/json" \
     --data '{ "resize": { "method": "fit", "width": 150, "height": 100 } }' \
     --dump-header /dev/stdout --silent \
     --output thumbnail.jpg

Request options

The method describes the way your image will be resized. The following methods are available:

scale

Scales the image down proportionally. You must provide either a target width or a target height, but not both. The scaled image will have exactly the provided width or height.

fit

Scales the image down proportionally so that it fits within the given dimensions. You must provide both a width and a height. The scaled image will not exceed either of these dimensions.

cover

Scales the image proportionally and crops it if necessary so that the result has exactly the given dimensions. You must provide both a width and a height. Which parts of the image are cropped away is determined automatically. An intelligent algorithm determines the most important areas and leaves these intact. We’d love to have feedback!

If the target dimensions are larger than the original dimensions, the image will not be scaled up. Scaling up is prevented in order to protect the quality of your images.

Preserving metadata

You can request that specific metadata is copied from the uploaded image to the compressed version. Preserving copyright information, the GPS location and the creation date are currently supported. Preserving metadata adds to the compressed file size, so you should only preserve metadata that is important to keep.

Preserving metadata will not count as an extra compression. However, in the background the image will be created again with the additional metadata.

Example upload request

You need to upload the original image first, similar to the previous examples.

POST /shrink HTTP/1.1
Host: api.tinify.com
Authorization: Basic YXBpOmFiY2RlZmdoaWprbG1ub3BxcnN0dXZ3eHl6MDEyMzQ1

[binary]

HTTP/1.1 201 Created
Compression-Count: 1
Location: https://api.tinify.com/output/2xnsp7jn34e5.jpg
Content-Type: application/json; charset=utf-8

{
  "output": {
    "size": 45974,
    "type": "image/jpeg"
  }
}

For example, if you have a file named unoptimized.jpg in the current folder:

curl https://api.tinify.com/shrink \
     --user api:YOUR_API_KEY \
     --data-binary @unoptimized.jpg \
     --dump-header /dev/stdout

Example download request with metadata

You can now download the compressed version of the image with the copyright information and creation date. Specify the URL that was returned in the Location header from the previous step and add the JSON instructions to preserve the copyright and creation date as follows.

GET /output/2xnsp7jn34e5.jpg HTTP/1.1
Host: api.tinify.com
Authorization: Basic YXBpOmFiY2RlZmdoaWprbG1ub3BxcnN0dXZ3eHl6MDEyMzQ1
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "preserve": ["copyright", "creation"]
}

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Compression-Count: 1
Content-Type: image/jpeg
Image-Width: 530
Image-Height: 300
Content-Length: 46480

[binary]

Notice that the Content-Length will be slightly larger than the output size from the first step.

The following example shows how you can save the compressed image to a file named optimized-copyright.jpg where the copyright metadata has been preserved.

curl https://api.tinify.com/output/2xnsp7jn34e5.jpg \
     --user api:YOUR_API_KEY \
     --header "Content-Type: application/json" \
     --data '{ "preserve": ["copyright", "creation"] }' \
     --dump-header /dev/stdout \
     --output optimized-copyright.jpg

Request options

You can provide the following options to preserve specific metadata. No metadata will be added if the requested metadata is not present in the uploaded image.

copyright

Preserves any copyright information. This includes the EXIF copyright tag (JPEG), the XMP rights tag (PNG) as well as a Photoshop copyright flag or URL. Uses up to 90 additional bytes, plus the length of the copyright data.

creation (JPEG only)

Preserves any creation date or time. This is the moment the image or photo was originally created. This includes the EXIF original date time tag (JPEG). Uses around 70 additional bytes.

location (JPEG only)

Preserves any GPS location data that describes where the image or photo was taken. This includes the EXIF GPS latitude and GPS longitude tags (JPEG). Uses around 130 additional bytes.

Saving to Amazon S3

You can tell the Tinify API to save compressed images directly to Amazon S3. If you use S3 to host your images this saves you the hassle of downloading images to your server and uploading them to S3 yourself.

Example S3 request

You can store a compressed image to S3 by using the URL that was returned in the Location header. A JSON body with the bucket information and a Content-Type: application/json header have to be included in the request that instructs the file to be stored on S3.

POST output/2xnsp7jn34e5.jpg HTTP/1.1
Host: api.tinify.com
Authorization: Basic YXBpOmFiY2RlZmdoaWprbG1ub3BxcnN0dXZ3eHl6MDEyMzQ1
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "store" : {
    "service": "s3",
    "aws_access_key_id": "AKIAIOSFODNN7EXAMPLE",
    "aws_secret_access_key": "wJalrXUtnFEMI/K7MDENG/bPxRfiCYEXAMPLEKEY",
    "region": "us-west-1",
    "path": "example-bucket/my-images/optimized.jpg"
  }
}

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Compression-Count: 3
Image-Width: 530
Image-Height: 300
Location: https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/example-bucket/my-images/optimized.jpg

For example, to save the compressed image to a file named my-images/optimized.jpg in a bucked named example-bucket:

curl https://api.tinify.com/output/2xnsp7jn34e5.jpg \
     --user api:YOUR_API_KEY \
     --dump-header /dev/stdout --silent \
     --header "Content-Type: application/json" \
     --data '{
       "store" : {
         "service": "s3",
         "aws_access_key_id": "AKIAIOSFODNN7EXAMPLE",
         "aws_secret_access_key": "wJalrXUtnFEMI/K7MDENG/bPxRfiCYEXAMPLEKEY",
         "region": "us-west-1",
         "path": "example-bucket/my-images/optimized.jpg"
       }
     }'

Request options

You need to provide the following options in order to save an image on Amazon S3:

service

Must be s3 as currently only Amazon S3 is supported.

aws_access_key_id

aws_secret_access_key

Your AWS access key ID and secret access key. These are the credentials to an Amazon AWS user account. Find out how to obtain them in Amazon’s documentation. The user must have the correct permissions, see below for details.

region

The AWS region in which your S3 bucket is located.

path

The path at which you want to store the image including the bucket name. The path must be supplied in the following format: <bucket>/<path>/<filename>.

The user that corresponds to your AWS access key ID must have the PutObject and PutObjectAcl permissions on the paths of the objects you intend to create.

Example S3 access policy

If you want to create a user with limited access specifically for the Tinify API, you can use the following example policy as a starting point:

{
  "Statement": {
    "Effect": "Allow",
    "Action": [
      "s3:PutObject",
      "s3:PutObjectAcl"
    ],
    "Resource": [
      "arn:aws:s3:::example-bucket/*"
    ]
  }
}

Error handling

The Tinify API uses HTTP status codes to indicate success or failure. Status codes in the 2xx range indicate success. Status codes in the 4xx range indicate there was a problem with your request. Status codes in the 5xx indicate a temporary problem with the Tinify API.

Example error response

In case an error occurs, the HTTP body will contain the error details formatted as JSON. The message will contain a short human readable description.

POST /shrink HTTP/1.1
Host: api.tinify.com

HTTP/1.1 401 Unauthorized
Content-Type: application/json; charset=utf-8

{
  "error": "Unauthorized",
  "message": "Credentials are invalid"
}

Compression count

The web service keeps track of the number of compressions you have made. Most HTTP responses include the number of compressions made this month.

Example response

In most responses the Compression-Count header is present, which contains the number of compressions made with this account during the current calendar month.

POST /shrink HTTP/1.1
Host: api.tinify.com
Authorization: Basic YXBpOmFiY2RlZmdoaWprbG1ub3BxcnN0dXZ3eHl6MDEyMzQ1

[binary]

HTTP/1.1 201 Created
Compression-Count: 12

[...]

Need help? Got feedback?

We’re always here to help, so if you’re stuck just drop us a note on [email protected]. It’s also the perfect place to send us all your suggestions and feedback.