# FastThumbnail
FastThumbnail is an Elixir library that uses a [Rust NIF](https://hexdocs.pm/rustler) under the hood to perform **fast, SIMD-optimized** image resizing. It leverages the excellent [fast_image_resize](https://github.com/Cykooz/fast_image_resize) crate to crop and resize images efficiently.
### Why?
- **Fast**: SIMD-accelerated resizing is blazingly fast.
I just wanted stupidly simple image resizing that do just one thing: crop and resize an image to a given width.
There is already good libraries for this [image](https://github.com/elixir-image/image), but they all seem to be too complex for my needs. Also I like small dependencies.
## Features
- **Center-crop** images to a square, then resize (all in a single pass).
- **Multiple output modes**:
- Overwrite the original file with the same format (JPEG stays JPEG, PNG stays PNG, etc.).
- Save a **new** file in WebP format (`"path.webp"`).
- Return the resized image as a **base64-encoded** WebP string (no file writing).
- Backed by **SIMD** operations for maximum performance, thanks to the [fast_image_resize](https://github.com/Cykooz/fast_image_resize) library.
## Installation
Add `fast_thumbnail` to your dependencies in `mix.exs`:
```elixir
def deps do
[
{:fast_thumbnail, "~> 0.1.4"}
]
end
```
Then run:
```bash
mix deps.get
mix compile
```
## Usage
```elixir
# 1) Overwrite file in its original format (JPEG→JPEG, PNG→PNG, etc.)
iex> FastThumbnail.create("images/photo.jpg", 300, :overwrite)
{:ok, "images/photo.jpg"}
# 2) Create a new file in WebP format:
iex> FastThumbnail.create("images/photo.jpg", 300, :webp)
{:ok, "images/photo.jpg.webp"}
# 3) Return a base64-encoded WebP (no file writing):
iex> FastThumbnail.create("images/photo.jpg", 300, :base64)
{:ok, "data:image/webp;base64,UklGRrwAAABXRUJQVlA4T..."}
```
## Example Liveview
Below is a **LiveView**:
```elixir
defmodule MyAppWeb.UploadLive do
use MyAppWeb, :live_view
@impl Phoenix.LiveView
def mount(_params, _session, socket) do
socket =
socket
# Limit to .jpg, .jpeg for this example
|> allow_upload(:avatar, accept: ~w(.jpg .jpeg), max_entries: 2)
{:ok, socket}
end
@impl Phoenix.LiveView
def handle_event("validate", _params, socket) do
{:noreply, socket}
end
@impl Phoenix.LiveView
def handle_event("cancel-upload", %{"ref" => ref}, socket) do
{:noreply, cancel_upload(socket, :avatar, ref)}
end
@impl Phoenix.LiveView
def handle_event("save", _params, socket) do
uploaded_files =
consume_uploaded_entries(socket, entry, fn %{path: tmp_path} ->
save_result = save_and_process_upload(entry.client_name, tmp_path)
end)
# Make all check on uploaded_files {:ok, file} or {:ok, {:error, reason}}
{:noreply, update(socket, :uploaded_files, &(&1 ++ uploaded_files))}
end
defp save_and_process_upload(name, tmp_path) do
thumb_result = FastThumbnail.create(tmp_path, 200, :webp)
case thumb_result do
{:ok, thumb_path} ->
s3_result = upload_to_s3(thumb_path, name <> ".webp")
case s3_result do
{:ok, s3_url} ->
{:ok, s3_url}
{:error, reason} ->
{:ok, {:error, reason}}
# otherwise you can postone
end
{:error, reason} ->
{:error, reason}
end
end
defp upload_to_s3(file_path, name_for_s3) do
# Build your AWS client
access_key = System.get_env("AWS_ACCESS_KEY")
secret_key = System.get_env("AWS_SECRET_KEY")
region = System.get_env("AWS_REGION")
bucket = System.get_env("AWS_BUCKET_NAME") || "my-bucket"
client = AWS.Client.create(access_key, secret_key, region)
# Read the local WebP thumbnail bytes
file_body = File.read!(file_path)
# We'll store it in S3 at some key (like "thumbnails/<filename>.webp")
# This is just an example – adjust folder/paths as needed
folder = "thumbnails"
key = "#{folder}/#{name_for_s3}"
s3_url = "https://s3.#{region}.amazonaws.com/#{bucket}/#{key}"
# S3 `put_object` params
put_params = %{
"Body" => file_body,
"ContentType" => "image/webp",
"Metadata" => %{"OriginalName" => name_for_s3}
}
case AWS.S3.put_object(client, bucket, key, put_params) do
{:ok, _, _} ->
{:ok, s3_url}
{:error, reason} ->
{:error, reason}
end
end
end
```
With this, you have a **LiveView** flow that:
1. Accepts user uploads,
2. Creates a **resized** webp thumbnail,
3. Uploads it to S3,
4. Returns the final S3 URL or a local URL.
Under the hood, the Elixir function calls a Rust NIF which performs a **single-pass** crop+resize operation using [fast_image_resize](https://crates.io/crates/fast_image_resize). The resized bytes are either:
- Written back to disk in the same or different format, **or**
- Returned to Elixir as a base64 string.
## Credits
- **[fast_image_resize](https://github.com/Cykooz/fast_image_resize)** – the Rust crate that powers the SIMD-accelerated resizing. See also:
- [Crates.io](https://crates.io/crates/fast_image_resize)
- [Docs.rs](https://docs.rs/fast_image_resize)
- **[Thumbp](https://github.com/ryochin/thumbp)** - Another excellent Elixir library that provides a fast and efficient way to generate thumbnails from images.
- **[rustler](https://github.com/rusterlium/rustler)** – used for building the native Rust code as an Elixir NIF.
## License
FastThumbnail is licensed under the [Apache License, Version 2.0](LICENSE).
*fast_image_resize* is distributed under its own license. Please refer to its repository for details.