Displaying Images In Visualforce: Best Methods & Practices

Aug 16, 2025 by Mireille Lambert 59 views

Displaying Images on Visualforce Pages: A Comprehensive Guide

Hey everyone! Let's dive into the best ways to display images on Visualforce pages. If you're working with Visualforce, you've probably wondered about the most efficient and effective methods for handling images. In this guide, we'll explore various options, focusing on static resources and other techniques to ensure your pages look fantastic and perform well. So, let’s get started and figure out the optimal approach for displaying those company logos and other visuals!

Why Optimize Image Display on Visualforce Pages?

Before we jump into the methods, let’s quickly cover why optimizing image display is super important. First and foremost, performance is a key consideration. Large, unoptimized images can significantly slow down your page load times, leading to a poor user experience. Nobody likes waiting around for a page to load, right? Slower pages can also negatively impact your Salesforce org’s overall performance, especially if you have many users accessing the pages simultaneously.

Secondly, consider organization and maintainability. How you store and manage your images can make a big difference in how easy it is to update and maintain your Visualforce pages. Imagine having to change a logo across dozens of pages and having to update each one individually – a nightmare! By using the right methods, you can centralize your images and make updates much simpler.

Finally, there’s the matter of best practices. Salesforce has some specific recommendations for handling static resources and images, and following these guidelines will help ensure your application is robust and scalable. So, let's explore the best ways to keep your Visualforce pages looking sharp and running smoothly.

Method 1: Static Resources – Zipped Images

One of the most common and recommended methods for displaying images on Visualforce pages is by using static resources. Static resources allow you to upload files, including images, CSS, JavaScript, and other content, to your Salesforce org. These resources are then served from Salesforce’s content delivery network (CDN), which helps improve page load times.

What are Static Resources?

Think of static resources as a central repository for all your static content. They are stored within your Salesforce org and can be referenced from your Visualforce pages, Lightning components, and even Apex code. This means you can keep all your images, stylesheets, and scripts in one place, making it easier to manage and update them. Static resources are versioned, too, so you can update them without breaking existing pages. This is crucial for maintaining a consistent and reliable user experience.

Zipping Images for Efficiency

When it comes to images, zipping them into a single archive is a best practice. Why? Because Salesforce imposes limits on the number of static resources you can have in an org and the total size of those resources. By zipping your images, you reduce the number of static resources and can often compress the files, saving space. Plus, it makes deployment and management a whole lot easier. Instead of uploading dozens or hundreds of individual image files, you upload one zip file. Simple!

How to Use Zipped Images in Visualforce

Here’s how you can use zipped images in your Visualforce pages:

Create a Zip File: First, gather all your images and compress them into a single zip file. Make sure your images are optimized for the web to reduce file size without sacrificing quality. Tools like TinyPNG or ImageOptim can help with this.
Upload the Zip File as a Static Resource: In Salesforce Setup, go to Static Resources and click “New.” Give your static resource a descriptive name (e.g., “CompanyLogos”), upload your zip file, and set the cache control to “Public” for optimal performance.
Reference the Images in Your Visualforce Page: Now, you can reference the images in your Visualforce page using the $Resource global variable and the URLFOR function. Here’s an example:
```
<apex:page>
    <apex:image url="{!URLFOR($Resource.CompanyLogos, 'logo1.png')}" alt="Company Logo"/>
</apex:page>
```
In this example, CompanyLogos is the name of your static resource (the zip file), and logo1.png is the name of the image file within the zip. The URLFOR function generates the correct URL to access the image from the static resource.

Benefits of Using Zipped Static Resources

Improved Performance: Serving images from static resources leverages Salesforce’s CDN, resulting in faster load times.
Organization: Keeps all your images in one place, making them easier to manage and update.
Reduced Resource Usage: Zipping images helps you stay within Salesforce’s static resource limits.
Version Control: Static resources are versioned, so you can update them safely.

Method 2: Static Resources – Individual Images

While zipping images is generally recommended, there are situations where you might prefer to upload individual images as separate static resources. This approach can be useful if you have a small number of images or if you need to update images frequently without re-uploading an entire zip file. However, keep in mind the limits on the number of static resources and their total size, so use this method judiciously.

How to Use Individual Images in Visualforce

The process for using individual images is similar to using zipped images, but instead of uploading a zip file, you upload each image as a separate static resource.

Upload Images as Static Resources: In Salesforce Setup, go to Static Resources and click “New” for each image. Give each static resource a descriptive name (e.g., “Logo1,” “Logo2”), upload the image file, and set the cache control to “Public.”
Reference the Images in Your Visualforce Page: Reference the images in your Visualforce page using the $Resource global variable and the URLFOR function, just like with zipped images. Here’s an example:
```
<apex:page>
    <apex:image url="{!URLFOR($Resource.Logo1)}" alt="Company Logo 1"/>
    <apex:image url="{!URLFOR($Resource.Logo2)}" alt="Company Logo 2"/>
</apex:page>
```
In this case, Logo1 and Logo2 are the names of your individual static resources.

When to Use Individual Images

Small Number of Images: If you only have a few images, uploading them individually might be simpler than creating and managing a zip file.
Frequent Updates: If you need to update images frequently, uploading them individually can save time, as you don’t have to re-upload an entire zip file.

Drawbacks of Using Individual Images

Resource Limits: You might hit the limits on the number of static resources more quickly.
Management Overhead: Managing a large number of individual static resources can be more cumbersome.

Method 3: Document Object Images

Another option for displaying images in Visualforce is by storing them as Document objects in Salesforce. This method allows you to leverage Salesforce’s document management capabilities, including version control and sharing. However, it’s not as performant as using static resources, so it’s best suited for images that need to be managed as documents and aren't displayed as frequently.

How to Use Document Object Images

Upload Images as Documents: In Salesforce, go to the Documents tab and upload your images. Make sure the “Externally Available Image” checkbox is selected to make the image accessible in Visualforce pages.

Reference the Images in Your Visualforce Page: Reference the images in your Visualforce page using the $Asset global variable and the Document ID. You’ll need to query the Document object to get the image URL. Here’s an example:

// Apex Controller
public class ImageController {
    public String imageUrl {get; set;}

    public ImageController() {
        Document doc = [SELECT Id, Body FROM Document WHERE Name = 'MyImage' AND IsBodyInline = false LIMIT 1];
        imageUrl = '/servlet/servlet.FileDownload?file=' + doc.Id;
    }
}

<!-- Visualforce Page -->
<apex:page controller="ImageController">
    <apex:image url="{!imageUrl}" alt="My Image"/>
</apex:page>

In this example, we query the Document object to get the ID of the image and then construct the image URL using /servlet/servlet.FileDownload. This approach requires an Apex controller to fetch the image URL.

Benefits of Using Document Object Images

Document Management: Leverage Salesforce’s document management features.
Version Control: Documents have version control, so you can track changes to your images.
Sharing: Control who has access to your images through document sharing settings.

Drawbacks of Using Document Object Images

Performance: Not as performant as static resources, as images are not served from a CDN.
Complexity: Requires an Apex controller to fetch the image URL.

Method 4: External URLs

Another way to display images on your Visualforce page is by referencing images hosted on external servers using their URLs. This can be a good option if your images are already hosted on a CDN or another web server. However, you need to ensure that the external server is reliable and that the image URLs are stable.

How to Use External URLs

Host Images Externally: Upload your images to a web server or CDN.
Reference the Images in Your Visualforce Page: Reference the images in your Visualforce page using the apex:image tag and the external URL. Here’s an example:
```
<apex:page>
    <apex:image url="https://www.example.com/images/logo.png" alt="Company Logo"/>
</apex:page>
```
In this example, we directly use the URL of the image hosted on an external server.

Benefits of Using External URLs

Offload Storage: Reduce storage usage in your Salesforce org.
CDN Benefits: If your images are hosted on a CDN, you can leverage its performance benefits.

Drawbacks of Using External URLs

Reliability: Your images depend on the availability of the external server.
Security: Ensure the external server is secure to prevent unauthorized access to your images.
Performance: If the external server is slow, your page load times will be affected.

Best Practices for Displaying Images on Visualforce Pages

To wrap things up, let’s go over some best practices for displaying images on Visualforce pages:

Use Static Resources: Whenever possible, use static resources for images. They provide the best performance and organization.
Zip Your Images: Zipping your images helps you stay within Salesforce’s resource limits and makes management easier.
Optimize Images: Optimize your images for the web to reduce file size without sacrificing quality. Tools like TinyPNG or ImageOptim can help.
Use a CDN: Serving images from a CDN (which Salesforce static resources do) improves page load times.
Choose the Right Method: Consider the number of images, update frequency, and performance requirements when choosing a method.
Test Your Pages: Always test your Visualforce pages to ensure images are displayed correctly and that the page loads quickly.

Conclusion

So, what’s the best method for displaying images on Visualforce pages? In most cases, using zipped static resources is the way to go. This approach offers the best combination of performance, organization, and ease of management. However, depending on your specific needs, other methods like individual static resources, Document objects, or external URLs might be suitable. The key is to understand the pros and cons of each method and choose the one that best fits your requirements.

I hope this guide has been helpful in clarifying the different ways to display images on Visualforce pages. Remember, optimizing your image display can significantly improve the user experience and the overall performance of your Salesforce application. Happy coding, guys!