Understanding Image Derivatives

Users can customize the resolution of the derivatives in the portal. When creating a derivative with a custom resolution, Bynder uses the longer side to determine the output resolution. For example, an 800-by-600-pixel derivative will use the 800-pixel side for resizing. The 600-pixel side is scaled to the aspect ratio.

Note: Derivatives (custom or default) are not instantly available after upload. Derivatives become available after processing.

These custom derivatives can be set up in your portal:

• Prefix (Derivative Name): Edit the name for clarity, but avoid using the following: 
  • Special characters such as - or / should be avoided, except for underscores and spaces (spaces will be converted to underscores if used in a URL).
  • Generic names like original, web, webimage, thul, or thumbnail should be avoided, as these are already used for the automatic default derivatives created for every asset in the background.
  • Duplicated prefix names should be avoided. For example, if there are two "Low_res" derivatives that differ only by the output file extension, each should have a unique Prefix name.
• A custom DPI value for your derivatives can be configured. For instance, we can automatically generate a 300 DPI derivative of your original 600 DPI image file.

• An automatic crop generates the derivative based on the image's focal point. The crop adjusts dynamically, ensuring that one of the longer sides of the desired aspect ratio reaches the image border while still outputting the required size.

• Default dimensions and aspect ratio are preserved for use in your webshop. Bynder can resize the image to the longer side, and its aspect ratio, and the remaining canvas will be filled with blank space to meet your fixed dimensions.
• Derivatives generated based on the filename of the original file. Using regular expressions (regex) we can configure derivatives to only be generated when the filename of the original file meets specific criteria.  For example, if you don't want a derivative to be generated when the filename of the original file contains an icon. For more information, see the section Using Regular Expressions (Regex) for Automation below.
• Public? Makes derivatives publicly available for the Bynder API. These derivatives will not be visible to users unless the View and download public media derivatives permission is selected.

Note: If using the Mass Uploader, the asset's filename must start with the specified regex for the derivative to be created. The standard uploader does not require this.

• Unique URLs for Derivatives: Each derivative—whether a standard preset or a custom crop—is assigned a Unique URL. This is a permanent CDN link that lets you embed the image directly on external platforms.
• Accepted output formats (JPG, PNG, and TIFF) are used to generate the derivative file.
• Recommended sizes: We recommend that your asset have the original size, large (JPG - 1024*786 - 300 DPI - RGB), and small (JPG - 640*480 - 72 DPI - RGB).
• Color spaces (RGB/CMYK/inherit): 
  • The inherit option ensures that the embedded color profile in the uploaded file is used to generate the derivative. This way, the derivative will be generated with the right colors. Inheriting the color profile is the best way to ensure the derivative's color profile matches the original file's. If you want to use this option, make sure you upload files with embedded color profiles.
  • If no embedded color profile is available in the uploaded file, the system will fall back to a default color profile. For the RGB color space, this will be the sRGB color profile. For the CMYK color space, users can set a custom fallback color profile for you. If no custom fallback profile has been set up, the system will default to the ISO Coated v2 300% (ECI) profile. 
  • PNG derivatives can be customized to preserve transparency, while JPGs can be set to the desired quality.

Note: Aside from Vector files, Bynder can not create derivatives with larger dimensions than the original file as it would lead to quality loss. Vector file types are AI, SVG, PDF, and EPS.

Using Regular Expressions (Regex) for Automation

In Bynder, you can use regex to control when specific image derivatives are automatically created. This is highly beneficial if you want to ensure only specific files trigger a transformation process.

What is Regex?

In simple terms, Regex (short for Regular Expressions) is a smart, automated way to search for and identify specific patterns in text. Think of it like a "Find" tool on steroids: instead of just searching for one specific word, you can tell the system to look for any file name that follows a specific structure—like all files starting with "2026_" or all files containing "Logo" followed by a number.

Examples of Regex Patterns

^2026: The caret (^) symbol tells the system to look at the very start of a file name. This would find "2026_ProjectA.jpg" but ignore "Report_2026.pdf."

\.png$: The dollar sign ($) tells the system to look at the end of a file name. This would identify any file ending specifically with ".png."

.*_Icon: The .* acts as a wildcard, meaning "anything can be here." This would find any file name that ends with "_Icon," regardless of the preceding text (e.g., "Web_Icon," "Print_Icon," or "Social_Icon").

How to Apply It

When your Admin configures a custom derivative in your Bynder portal, they can enter a regular expression pattern in the designated field. By doing so, you ensure that your automation is precise—applying specific settings only to the files that actually need them. For example, if you only want a "Watermarked" version created for files that contain the word "Public" in the file name, a regex rule ensures any file without "Public" in its name skips that processing step, keeping your workflow clean and your storage organized.

Note: If using the Mass Uploader, the asset's filename must start with the specified regex for the derivative to be created. The standard uploader does not require this.

Allowed Types

By default, derivatives will be created for nearly all image assets. If you want to create derivatives for selected asset types only, enter the types in the field. We recommend using the following types: PSD, BPM, EPS, JPG, TIF, TIFF, AI, PNG.
Note: When adding JPG as an allowed type, no derivative will be created if the original file has the JPEG file extension. Make sure to add JPEG as an allowed type so derivatives can be created for files with the JPEG extension as well. Vice versa, the same logic applies. TIF and TIFF are other examples.