Redirect Public Derivative Links to DAT Presets

Summary

Heavy users of Public Derivative links would like the benefits of DAT without changing their Frontend code (URLs) to the DAT links. This is an "Image Optimization Proxy" acting as a Feature Enabler for DAT—it’s a backend routing that improves performance without requiring the customer to change their frontend code.

Who?

Public derivative link users who want to seamlessly upgrade legacy asset delivery via Public links to the modern, optimized standards via DAT without forcing a re-coding of the customer’s entire website or application.

This feature/solution requires your Customer Success Contact to request enablement in your portal, but then the Bynder DAM Admin can set up the redirect by creating DAT Presets. 

Please keep in mind that in order to have this feature you must have the CX Omnichannel package and ensure that your DAT Derivative configuration has been completed first. 

Why?

Our Dynamic Asset Transformation (DAT) service delivers image assets on the fly with custom transformation parameters ensuring significantly faster page load times and reduced data consumption for end-users through automated image optimization.

You can expect Improved SEO rankings (via Core Web Vitals), reduced file size and delivery time, and zero "developer friction" since existing public links remain unchanged.

How? 

Enabling the Feature

Prerequisites: Your portal must be upgraded to CX Omnichannel and DAT must be configured in the relevant portal. This solution only works for Public Derivatives, the portal must have Derivatives configured.

  1. Base Derivative: Set up the DAT Base Derivative in the portal (i.e. 3000 x 3000) → this can be done by Support or Onboarding.
  2. Regeneration: Trigger a Portal Regeneration request. Critical: This ensures the DAT Base derivative is created for all existing image assets. → this can be done by your CSM, Support or Onboarding.
  3. Portal Enablement: CSM should request the Product team to Enable the “Redirect to DAT” feature flag in the Portal.

Configuring your DAT Presets to match the Derivative configuration

Click here to see a demo of this solution and how to configure your DAT presets to redirect Public derivative links.

  1. Preset Creation: Create DAT presets using the exact naming convention (prefix) and dimensions (W x H) of existing Derivatives.
    • To further optimize, additional transformation parameters can be added to the preset see the KB article to learn more about DAT.
  2. Final Toggle: Enable the "Redirect public links" toggle within the specific DAT Preset setup.

Here is an example Public Derivative link that is being redirected via a DAT Preset.

The Technical Details

How it works

  1. The Request: When an external user or system requests an /m or /asset link (public derivative link), the DAT service intercepts the call.
  2. The Logic Check: The System checks if the requested derivative prefix matches a DAT Preset name. The System verifies if the redirect_public_link flag is enabled for that preset.
  3. The Proxy: If both conditions are met, the request is proxied through DAT as a /transform/preset request.
  4. The Result: The original URL stays the same, but the image returned is the high-performance, optimized version delivered from the DAT, on the fly service.

NOTE: This solution does not work for Public Original links, only Derivatives.

Technical Specifics

  • Service Architecture: This is a Proxy, not a Redirect. The client browser never sees a 301/302 change; the optimization happens at the server level.
  • Compatibility: This service is strictly for Image Assets via DAT Presets. Non-image assets will continue to serve via standard delivery paths.
  • CDN Cache time for Public links: CDN (AWS CloudFront): s-max-age = 24 hours, Browser Cache: max-age = 15 minutes.

Troubleshooting

Here is a list of common issues and some tips on how to resolve them.

Issue Common Cause Resolution
Image not optimized Naming mismatch Ensure the DAT Preset name matches the Derivative prefix name exactly.
404 on new links Missing base Derivative configuration Ensure DAT Base derivative was configured & Verify that the Portal Regeneration was completed successfully.
Old images appearing Cache TTL Wait for the 24hr Cloudfront TTL to expire or trigger a manual invalidation on affected links

Known Limitations

  • Asset Type: DAT only supports Image Assets, this redirect only works with Public Derivatives. Original links, Videos, PDFs, or other binaries will not be proxied through this specific workflow.
  • Configuration Dependency: Requires the DAT Base Derivative to be configured and generated portal-wide.
  • Image Derivative: Configurations of 0x0 image derivatives are not supported and won't work with this redirect. There needs to be an exact image dimension (WxH) to reference in the preset in order for the redirect to work.
  • Original Links: This redirect solution is not compatible with Public Original assets links, only Public Derivatives.

FAQs

What happens to the actual /m or /asset links in the back end and front end?

The links stay the same, so your current setup won’t break.

What if a user deletes the non-DAT derivative?

The links will still work. Once the DAT preset link is active, image requests use the DAT Base derivative, making the old one unnecessary.

How does invalidation work for multiple links?

Invalidation relies on public link cache-control: 24 hours in AWS CloudFront and 15 minutes in the browser.

Does this redirect work for Adaptive video streaming, Videos, PDFs or Originals?

NO, this solution only supports a redirect from Public Derivatives to DAT Presets.

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