[13.x] Adds first-party support for image processing

[nunomaduro]

Hey! This one's still cooking — not ready for review yet, just sharing progress. 🚧

This PR adds first-party support for image processing in Laravel via a driver-based API that allows developers to manipulate uploaded images fluently from requests.

Getting Started

Process an uploaded image in a single, fluent chain:

$request->image('avatar')
      ->cover(200, 200)
      ->optimize(format: 'webp') // e.g: 8mb to 56 kb..
      ->store('avatars');

The image() method on the request returns a PendingImage instance that wraps the uploaded file. Operations (like optimize or cover) are accumulated and applied when a terminal method like store() is called — or explicitly via process().

Available Operations

optimize(string $format = 'webp', int $quality = 80)

Convert to a given format and quality level:

$request->image('photo')->optimize(); // defaults 'webp', 85
$request->image('photo')->optimize(format: 'png', quality: 50);

cover(int $width, int $height)

Resize and crop the image to exactly fit the given dimensions, maintaining aspect ratio:

$request->image('avatar')->cover(200, 200);

scale(int $width, int $height)

Resize the image proportionally. If only width is given, the height is calculated automatically:

$request->image('photo')->scale(1200);

orient()

Auto-orient the image based on EXIF data — fixes photos taken on phones that appear rotated:

$request->image('photo')->orient();

blur(int $amount = 5)

Apply a blur effect. Useful for generating placeholder images for lazy loading:

$request->image('hero')->scale(40)->blur(15);

greyscale()

Convert the image to greyscale:

$request->image('photo')->greyscale();

Real-World Pipelines

// Avatar: 8MB DSLR photo → tiny optimized square
$request->image('avatar')
    ->orient()
    ->cover(200, 200)
    ->optimize('webp')
    ->store('avatars');

// Album: large photo → reasonable size, auto-rotated
$request->image('photo')
    ->orient()
    ->scale(1200)
    ->optimize('webp', 85)
    ->store('photos');

// Lazy-load placeholder
$request->image('hero')
    ->scale(40)
    ->blur(15)
    ->optimize('webp', 50)
    ->store('placeholders');

Drivers

The image processing is driver-based. Three drivers are included: gd, imagick, and cloudflare.

The default driver is configured in config/image.php:

'default' => env('IMAGE_DRIVER', 'gd'),

GD and Imagick use Intervention Image v3 under the hood. You can override the driver per-image:

$request->image('photo')->using('imagick')->cover(200, 200);

The Cloudflare driver uses the Cloudflare Images API — uploading the image, applying transformations via URL parameters, and downloading the result:

// .env
CLOUDFLARE_IMAGES_ACCOUNT_ID=your-account-id
CLOUDFLARE_IMAGES_API_TOKEN=your-api-token

Custom drivers can be registered via extend():

use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Image;

Image::extend('custom', function ($app) {
    return new CustomDriver;
});