Image pipelines in Astro: sharp, CDN, and next‑gen formats
Serve beautiful images fast with AVIF/WebP, responsive sizes, and caching that actually works.
Pick the right tools
Astro’s build‑time transforms plus a CDN give you the best mix of quality and speed. Generate multiple sizes and next‑gen formats; cache them hard at the edge.
Key patterns
- Use
srcset+sizeson all images so browsers pick the right bytes - Prefer AVIF/WebP with JPEG fallbacks where needed
- Lazy‑load below‑the‑fold media and set decoding hints
- Preload the LCP image; include width/height to avoid CLS
- Cache‑bust with content hashes so assets live a year in caches
Editorial workflow tips
- Define image ratios per component (hero, cards, avatars)
- Automate cropping and compression on upload or at build
- Provide guidance on “good” source dimensions
Results to expect
Lower LCP, smaller transfer sizes, and better UX on mobile networks. Better scores with fewer regressions over time.
Need help designing a robust image pipeline? We can blueprint it for your stack.
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