Whether you are validating uploads, generating responsive thumbnails, or optimizing delivery, you often need to know the width, height, and file size of images in PHP. Below is a practical, community-style Q and A covering local files, remote URLs, and some pitfalls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How to get the image size in PHP?<\/em> You can retrieve image dimensions and bytes in PHP using built-in functions, the Imagick extension for performance on large files, and HTTP requests for remote sources. Here are practical patterns you can plug into your app.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tip: If you work with EXIF-heavy formats like JPEG, you may need to account for orientation flags. See this primer on how to check image metadata<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If allow_url_fopen is enabled, getimagesize can read URLs directly:<\/p>\n\n\n For very large images or formats like TIFF or HEIC, Imagick can extract dimensions without decoding the full raster.<\/p>\n\n\n If you plan to transform or convert after reading sizes, choose efficient formats. For web delivery, see JPEG vs WebP<\/a>. You can also quickly convert assets like PNG to WebP using a tool such as PNG to WebP<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If your images live in the cloud, you can get dimensions and bytes from the upload response or through an API. For example, using the Cloudinary PHP SDK, the upload call returns width, height, bytes, and format. It also lets you deliver the right size on the fly and automate format selection.<\/p>\n\n\n After that, you can deliver resized or format-optimized variants by adding simple parameters to the delivery URL. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I need to read both dimensions and file size for images uploaded by users and also for images fetched from remote URLs. What is the most reliable way to do this in PHP, and how should I handle different formats and performance concerns? Bonus points for examples that work with file uploads, local files, and external links.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nAnswer:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1) Local files: width and height with getimagesize<\/h3>\n\n\n
<?php<\/span>\n$path = __DIR__<\/span> . '\/images\/photo.jpg'<\/span>;\n\n$info = @getimagesize($path);\nif<\/span> ($info === false<\/span>) {\n\u00a0 \u00a0 throw<\/span> new<\/span> RuntimeException('Not a valid image or unreadable file.'<\/span>);\n}\n\n$width\u00a0 = $info[0<\/span>];\n$height = $info[1<\/span>];\n$mime \u00a0 = $info['mime'<\/span>] ?? null<\/span>;\n\necho<\/span> \"Dimensions: {$width}x{$height}, MIME: {$mime}\\n\"<\/span>;\n?><\/span><\/span>\n\ngetimagesize works for common formats like JPEG, PNG, GIF, and sometimes WebP.\n\nTo validate file types more robustly, check MIME with finfo:\n\n<?php<\/span>\n$finfo = finfo_open(FILEINFO_MIME_TYPE);\n$mime\u00a0 = finfo_file($finfo, $path);\nfinfo_close($finfo);\n?><\/span><\/span><\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> HTML, XML<\/span> (<\/span>xml<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n2) Local files: file size in bytes<\/h3>\n\n\n
<?php<\/span>\n$bytes = filesize($path);\nif<\/span> ($bytes === false<\/span>) {\n\u00a0 \u00a0 throw<\/span> new<\/span> RuntimeException('Could not read file size.'<\/span>);\n}\necho<\/span> \"File size: {$bytes} bytes\\n\"<\/span>;\n?><\/span><\/span><\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> HTML, XML<\/span> (<\/span>xml<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n3) File uploads: validate quickly and safely<\/h3>\n\n\n
<?php<\/span>\nif<\/span> (!isset<\/span>($_FILES['image'<\/span>]) || $_FILES['image'<\/span>]['error'<\/span>] !== UPLOAD_ERR_OK) {\n\u00a0 \u00a0 throw<\/span> new<\/span> RuntimeException('No file or upload error.'<\/span>);\n}\n$tmp = $_FILES['image'<\/span>]['tmp_name'<\/span>];\n\n$info = @getimagesize($tmp);\nif<\/span> ($info === false<\/span>) {\n\u00a0 \u00a0 throw<\/span> new<\/span> RuntimeException('Uploaded file is not an image.'<\/span>);\n}\n\n$width\u00a0 = $info[0<\/span>];\n$height = $info[1<\/span>];\n$bytes\u00a0 = filesize($tmp);\n\nif<\/span> ($width > 4000<\/span> || $height > 4000<\/span> || $bytes > 5<\/span> * 1024<\/span> * 1024<\/span>) {\n\u00a0 \u00a0 throw<\/span> new<\/span> RuntimeException('Image exceeds limits.'<\/span>);\n}\n\necho<\/span> \"OK: {$width}x{$height}, {$bytes} bytes\\n\"<\/span>;\n?><\/span><\/span><\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> HTML, XML<\/span> (<\/span>xml<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n4) Remote images: dimensions via getimagesize or curl<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<?php<\/span>\n$url = 'https:\/\/example.com\/photo.jpg'<\/span>;\n$context = stream_context_create(['http'<\/span> => ['timeout'<\/span> => 5<\/span>]]);\n$info = @getimagesize($url, $context);\nif<\/span> ($info) {\n\u00a0 \u00a0 echo<\/span> \"Remote image: {$info[0]}x{$info[1]}\\n\"<\/span>;\n}\n?><\/span><\/span>\n\nWithout allow_url_fopen, fetch a small chunk and parse it:\n\n<?php<\/span>\n$ch = curl_init('https:\/\/example.com\/photo.jpg'<\/span>);\ncurl_setopt_array($ch, [\n\u00a0 \u00a0 CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true<\/span>,\n\u00a0 \u00a0 CURLOPT_FOLLOWLOCATION => true<\/span>,\n\u00a0 \u00a0 CURLOPT_TIMEOUT => 5<\/span>,\n\u00a0 \u00a0 CURLOPT_RANGE => '0-65535'<\/span> \/\/ partial download is often enough<\/span>\n]);\n$partial = curl_exec($ch);\ncurl_close($ch);\n\n$info = @getimagesizefromstring($partial);\nif<\/span> ($info) {\n\u00a0 \u00a0 echo<\/span> \"Dimensions: {$info[0]}x{$info[1]}\\n\"<\/span>;\n}\n?><\/span><\/span><\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> HTML, XML<\/span> (<\/span>xml<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n5) Remote images: file size via HTTP HEAD<\/h3>\n\n\n
<?php<\/span>\n$ch = curl_init('https:\/\/example.com\/photo.jpg'<\/span>);\ncurl_setopt_array($ch, [\n\u00a0 \u00a0 CURLOPT_NOBODY => true<\/span>,\n\u00a0 \u00a0 CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true<\/span>,\n\u00a0 \u00a0 CURLOPT_FOLLOWLOCATION => true<\/span>,\n\u00a0 \u00a0 CURLOPT_TIMEOUT => 5<\/span>\n]);\ncurl_exec($ch);\n$size = curl_getinfo($ch, CURLINFO_CONTENT_LENGTH_DOWNLOAD);\ncurl_close($ch);\n\nif<\/span> ($size >= 0<\/span>) {\n\u00a0 \u00a0 echo<\/span> \"Remote file size: {$size} bytes\\n\"<\/span>;\n} else<\/span> {\n\u00a0 \u00a0 echo<\/span> \"Content-Length not provided. Consider a full GET as fallback.\\n\"<\/span>;\n}\n?><\/span><\/span><\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> HTML, XML<\/span> (<\/span>xml<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n6) Large images: faster metadata with Imagick<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<?php<\/span>\n$img = new<\/span> Imagick();\n$img->pingImage($path); \/\/ fast metadata read<\/span>\necho<\/span> $img->getImageWidth() . 'x'<\/span> . $img->getImageHeight();\n?><\/span><\/span><\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> HTML, XML<\/span> (<\/span>xml<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n7) Format considerations and optimization<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Do the same with Cloud services<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<?php<\/span>\nuse<\/span> Cloudinary<\/span>\\Configuration<\/span>\\Configuration<\/span>;\nuse<\/span> Cloudinary<\/span>\\Api<\/span>\\Upload<\/span>\\UploadApi<\/span>;\n\nConfiguration::instance([\n\u00a0 'cloud'<\/span> => ['cloud_name'<\/span> => 'demo'<\/span>, 'api_key'<\/span> => 'key'<\/span>, 'api_secret'<\/span> => 'secret'<\/span>],\n\u00a0 'url'<\/span> \u00a0 => ['secure'<\/span> => true<\/span>]\n]);\n\n$result = (new<\/span> UploadApi())->upload(__DIR__<\/span> . '\/images\/photo.jpg'<\/span>, ['folder'<\/span> => 'samples'<\/span>]);\n$width\u00a0 = $result['width'<\/span>];\n$height = $result['height'<\/span>];\n$bytes\u00a0 = $result['bytes'<\/span>];\n$format = $result['format'<\/span>];\n\necho<\/span> \"Uploaded: {$width}x{$height}, {$bytes} bytes, format: {$format}\\n\"<\/span>;\n?><\/span><\/span><\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> HTML, XML<\/span> (<\/span>xml<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\nTL;DR<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Learn More<\/h2>\n\n\n\n