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AWS Solutions Library

Dynamic Image Transformation for Amazon CloudFront

Transform, optimize, and deliver images in real time at a fraction of the cost

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Overview

Dynamic Image Transformation for Amazon CloudFront (formerly Serverless Image Handler) enables real-time image processing through the global content delivery network (CDN) of Amazon CloudFront. This AWS Solution helps you optimize visual content delivery while significantly reducing operational costs and complexity. By dynamically transforming a single source image on-demand, it eliminates the need to store multiple versions of the same image, resulting in substantial storage savings. This solution also enhances the user experience through faster load times with improved caching, while providing robust security controls to protect against inappropriate content, including URL signing, request validation, and content moderation features.

Benefits

Streamlined image optimization

Transform and optimize images in real-time through simple API requests, serving the most efficient format based on browser capabilities and helping ensure optimal file size and quality.

Cost-effective storage management

Store only original images and generate variants on-demand, eliminating the need for multiple versions of the same image and significantly reducing storage costs.

Advanced security controls

Protect visual assets with URL signing, request validation, and content moderation features while maintaining granular access controls over your image delivery.

Scalable architecture

Automatically handle varying loads with serverless architecture, enabling consistent performance during traffic spikes without managing infrastructure.

Technical details

Use cases for this AWS Solution

About this deployment

  • Publish Date:
  • Version: 7.0.4
  • Released: 6/2025
  • Author: AWS
  • Est. deployment time: 15 mins
  • Estimated cost: See details

View implementation guide
Download implementation guide
Source code
CloudFormation template

Deployment options

Ready to get started?

Deploy this solution by launching it in your AWS Console

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Case Study

When product design and software development company  Perpetual began working with a new sports startup client, Perpetual quickly realized that it needed a solution for an image management tool that was both flexible and cost effective. Perpetual found the optimal fit for its challenge: Serverless Image Handler.
Read the full case study

AWS Architecture Blog

Fast and Cost-Effective Image Manipulation with Serverless Image Handler

As a modern company, you most likely have both a web-based and mobile app platform to provide content to customers who view it on a range of devices. The resulting image management can be a headache as it can be expensive and cumbersome to manage.

Serverless Image Handler (SIH) is an AWS Solution Implementation you use to store a single version of every image featured in your content, while dynamically delivering different versions at runtime based on your end user’s device.

Read the full blog post