Getting Started

WordPress plugin

Install LW Image, paste your API key, and every upload gets converted automatically.

LW Image is the WordPress plugin that connects to helloIMG. When a non-WebP/AVIF image is uploaded, it sends it to your account, gets back an optimized version, and replaces the original before WordPress generates its thumbnail sizes — so every thumbnail is built from the already-optimized image, not the original.

Requirements

WordPress 6.0 or newer
PHP 8.0 or newer
An image editor (Imagick or GD) with WebP support — the plugin's own Tester tab checks this for you after install

Install

Get the plugin

Either with Composer:

Terminal

composer require lwplugins/lw-img

Or download the latest release zip from the Releases page and upload it in Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin.

Activate

A new LW Plugins → Image menu appears in WP Admin.

Connect

Open LW Plugins → Image and paste your API key from the helloIMG dashboard. Uploads start converting as soon as it's saved.

What it does automatically

JPEG / PNG / GIF / HEIC / TIFF / BMP uploads convert to WebP or AVIF (your choice) — already-WebP/AVIF uploads are skipped, no credit used
Animated GIFs convert to animated WebP, frames and timing preserved
The original is kept if the converted file wouldn't actually be smaller
If the API call fails for any reason, the original upload is kept — nothing about the upload itself ever fails because of the plugin
Original files are backed up (restorable from the Media Library) unless you turn that off

Settings

Setting	Default	Notes
Output format	`webp`	`webp` (widest support) or `avif`
Optimization level	`normal`	`lossless` / `normal` / `aggressive` / `ultra`
Keep EXIF	off	Smaller files; drops camera/GPS metadata
Skip already-WebP	on	Saves credits
Skip animated GIF	off	Converted to animated WebP by default
Backup originals	on	Restorable from the Media Library
Backup retention	30 days	`0` = keep forever
Bulk speed	`normal`	`gentle` / `normal` / `fast`

Bulk-optimizing an existing library

The plugin can walk your existing Media Library in the background (a resumable WP-Cron job) instead of only converting new uploads. From WP-CLI:

Terminal

wp lw-img optimize --all

wp lw-img status, restore, and requeue are also available — see the plugin's own admin screen for a live progress dashboard (segmented bar, speed, ETA, activity feed) while a bulk run is going.

Images already optimized by another plugin are recognized and left alone — LW Image won't reprocess or re-download something it didn't touch.

Introduction

What helloIMG does, and how the async optimize flow works at a product level.

API quickstart

Optimize an image end to end with curl — upload, then poll until it's done.