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Direct URLs to download & embed images


With Direct URLs, you can use Canto’s CDN to easily share assets for downloading or embed them across the web. 

This feature works with images and videos. If you would like to view how to embed videos, please refer to the following link.


Requirement: You need to be signed in using an administrator's account in order to use this function.


User Menu > Settings > Configuration Options > Custom Configuration


How to enable Direct URLs in your Canto account

If you can’t find the Direct URLs section within the of an asset, it hasn't been configured yet. To do so, have a Canto admin do the following:   

  1. Select the Information Page tab. 
  2. Move the Direct URLs section from the Fields area to anywhere in the Layout area.

Note: Consumer-level users cannot see the Direct URLs section. Custom role users can if the privilege is enabled.


How to use Direct URLs to embed images

To grab a Direct URL, navigate to an image or video's Information Page and locate the Direct URLs section.

For images, the Original File URL provides you with the original image file in its original dimensions.

The Preview Image URL offers a low-res version with reduced dimensions. You can customize those dimensions by changing the number at the end of the URL, which will be the pixel measurement of the long side of the image (in the above screenshot, it's 800). The pixel measurement of the short side will reduce at the same ratio. There are up to seven predefined measurements you can use: 100, 240, 320, 500, 640, 800 as well as 2050 px. You can see an example of this "on the fly" image resizing in the tutorial video at the end of this page.

To embed an image on a website or application that doesn’t have an “Image URL” box, open up the site's HTML editor and place the Direct URL in a <img> tag:

<img src="https://hello.canto.de/direct/image/tr9ljoqq8h2ed7gm9cpk84vn43/y4BczZ3zKYVYQDDuDi_oKQGDL4A/original?content-type=image%2Fjpeg&name=backpack-1552-blue.jpg">


Note: If you would like to view how to embed videos, please refer to the following link.


Note: When you open a Direct URL and receive an error 403 Forbidden, it might be caused by an invalid character combination in your file name. In some cases, AWS would flag those as potentially malicious and block a Direct URL for safety reasons. If that happens, please contact the Canto Support team and provide them with the Direct URL you are having issues with.


Video tutorials

How to use Direct URLs


Custom image resizing with Direct URLs


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