Any tips for faster image uploads?

[stuartml]

I'm uploading about 10 images at 1mb each (per product), and it's taking a lot longer than expected.

I've changed my php settings to try and speed it up. What am I missing?

The upload files button has seems to have no indicator of progress- the page freezes until 1 gets uploaded and is listed in green. I assume its because its converting each image one at a time? It still seems unusually long.

 

 

[musicmaster]

Together with uploading the software also generates the derived images (123-small.jpg, 123-large.jpg, etc). This often takes more time than the uploading itself. So you should check which image types you have enabled. Maybe you can reduce their number.

[nickz]

On 6/23/2026 at 11:36 PM, stuartml said:

I've changed my php settings to try and speed it up. What am I missing?

restarting apache2 maybe? 

[stuartml]

On 6/29/2026 at 4:05 AM, musicmaster said:

"So you should check which image types you have enabled."

Is this under Preferences -> Images ?
Currently I have them using jpg and 80 quality, I removed the items from the theme I wasn't using. I'm using the community theme default (see screenshot attached).

I did try restarting apache, with no difference noticed.

[the.rampage.rado]

Be extra careful when removing image formats here as every theme creates what is needed during install.

Regarding speeding up image generation - if you're generating your images during manual product creation the only way is to increase the speed of your server (buy better VPS/server). If you are annoyed that image creation times out/is slow during product import - simply don't create the thumbnails during the import but later in a dedicated tab while you do other work. The image section got nice rewrite by @wakabayashi but in the end it has to regenerate the files.

Also - don't use jpg, it's 2026. Switch at least to webp, avif is even better if your server/php version supports it. BEFORE you switch the image format and regenerate all images - make sure that your theme can work with the new formats. Take inspiration from Niara and see how you can pass the file extension dynamically. Backup, make the change, then regenerate all thumbnails (Images -> Reset status -> Regenerate all). This will not speed up your generation time but will speed your FO performance and speed score if you approach the quality conservatively. 

[stuartml]

Ok, thanks for the information and help, I will try these changes.

[pauld]

We have a large product catalog and use our own synchronization solution. To handle product images, our solution generates them on our own server instead of the VPS or web hosting environment. It then uploads the images in the required dimensions and formats (webp, avif) to the thirtybees img directory and creates the corresponding database records.

This way, we avoid using web host resources for image generation and achieve better image quality and compression. Our solution is currently built for our specific ERP system and environment, but maybe there is some similar solution available for your environment?

[stuartml]

That sounds like a good system you have there. I'm not sure I'll be needing to do that, I've got about half way with my image uploads since I started on June 23rd, I'll probably just keep it as is. I think increasing the speed of the server would probably help a lot but I'm sticking with a small budget for now.

[DRMasterChief]

I don't think the issue lies with the thirtybees system itself; it's likely due to limitations imposed by the hosting provider.

There is a lot of potential here. You can find providers offering managed web hosting at a low cost, though performance and quality vary significantly.
For a standard-sized online shop, it is generally never necessary to use a VPS or a dedicated server. A dedicated server represents a massive security risk that requires management—something you either need to handle yourself (you need to be a sysadmin with extensive knowledge to do this) or hire someone else to do.  >> You'd better focus on your business, not on web servers 🙂

Personally, I have had far better experiences using ready-made hosting packages that offer sufficient performance.

Which country are you in, or where do you need/want to host? I’m not a hosting provider myself, of course, but I’d be happy to recommend one or two excellent options where thirtybees runs smoothly with up to 300,000–400,000 products.

Edited 6 hours ago by DRMasterChief