Use the IMQuery transformation to apply artistic transformations to images quickly and dynamically without having to create multiple policies, or having to update a policy for every change. You can add or remove transformations by appending the query string to the image URL.

This means other members of your organization do not need access to Image and Video Manager to transform images. They can do all the image manipulation they need to do on a per image basis through the image URL. It is up to you and any other administrators with access to Image and Video Manager to decide which transformations are possible.

For a usage example, see Use query string parameters to apply transformations.

How to:

1. In ​Akamai Control Center​, go to ☰ > CDN > Image and Video Manager.

2. Select the correct contract, policy set, and policy.

3. Click the More (...) menu in the Action column next to the policy you want to edit, and select Policy Editor.

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   You can also view and edit policies on both staging and production. We recommend that you test your changes on staging first.

4. In the Transformations section, click Add Transformation to expand the list of available transformations.

5. Select IMQuery from the list and click Insert Transformation to confirm your choice.

6. Configure the settings as follows:

   • Query Parameter Variable. Click the + icon (Create Variable) to select your own variable or use the default variable im.

     • You would have to put the specific transformation as the value in the Initial Value field. For example, if the transformation is Face Crop, the value of Initial Value has to be FaceCrop similar to the syntax in IMQuery string examples.

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       Initial Value is optional

       In order to create a variable with an empty Initial Value, type anything in the field and then delete it. The Create button remains enabled.

   • Allowed Transformations. Select the transformations that can be applied using the query string parameter. For example, if you want to allow only various crops, you might select only Crop, Face Crop, Feature Crop, and Region Of Interest Crop. Developers can then use a query string to apply only the transformations selected.

Syntax and Examples

Once you have added the IMQuery transformation to your image policy, you can apply the allowed transformations to URLs using an IMQuery string.

How to:

1. Open a browser and go to the URL of the image you wish to modify using one of the transformations in the table in IMQuery string examples.

2. Append the IMQuery string to your image URL.

   You can include multiple transformations in one IMQuery string.
   For example:

   https://www.example.com/image.jpg?im=Resize=(400,400);BackgroundColor=abab50
   

   
   

3. If you include multiple transformations, make sure that:

   • Semi-colons are used to separate transformations.
   • Transformations occur in order in which they should be applied.
   • URLs still comply with length restrictions imposed by browsers.
   
   

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   Keep in mind that the length and complexity of an IMQuery string impacts the request processing time.

IMQuery string examples

The following table contains an IMQuery string example for each transformation type.