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File formats
The Vision API supports the following image types:
JPEG
PNG8
PNG24
GIF
Animated GIF (first frame only)
BMP
WEBP
RAW
ICO
PDF
TIFF
Note that some of these image formats are "lossy" (for example, JPEG). Reducing
file sizes for such lossy formats may result in a degradation of image quality,
and hence, Vision API accuracy.
Image sizing
To enable accurate image detection within the Vision API, images
should generally be a minimum of 640 x 480 pixels (about 300k pixels). Full
details for different types of Vision API Feature requests are shown below:
Vision API Feature
Recommended Size *
Notes
FACE_DETECTION
1600 x 1200
Distance between eyes is most important
LANDMARK_DETECTION
640 x 480
LOGO_DETECTION
640 x 480
LABEL_DETECTION
640 x 480
TEXT_DETECTION and DOCUMENT_TEXT_DETECTION
1024 x 768
OCR requires more resolution to detect characters
SAFE_SEARCH_DETECTION
640 x 480
These recommended sizes differ based on the feature being detected. For example,FACE_DETECTIONrequests generally requires larger image sizes because the
features being detected (faces) are smaller than the image itself.LABEL_DETECTIONrequests, on the other hand, generally evaluate an entire
image.
In practice, a standard size of 640 x 480 pixels works well in most cases;
sizes larger than this may not gain much in accuracy, while greatly diminishing
throughput. When at all possible, pre-process your images to reduce their size
to these minimum standards.
File size
Image files sent to the Vision API should not exceed 20MB. Files exceeding 20MB generate an error. The Vision API does not resize files of this size.
Reducing your file size can significantly improve throughput; however, be
careful not to reduce image quality in the process. Note that the Vision API
imposes a 10MB JSON request size limit; larger files should be hosted on Cloud
Storage or on the web, rather than being passed as base64-encoded content in the
JSON itself.
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Hard to understand","hardToUnderstand","thumb-down"],["Incorrect information or sample code","incorrectInformationOrSampleCode","thumb-down"],["Missing the information/samples I need","missingTheInformationSamplesINeed","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],["Last updated 2025-09-04 UTC."],[],[],null,["# Supported Images\n\nFile formats\n------------\n\nThe Vision API supports the following image types:\n\n- JPEG\n- PNG8\n- PNG24\n- GIF\n- Animated GIF (first frame only)\n- BMP\n- WEBP\n- RAW\n- ICO\n- PDF\n- TIFF\n\nNote that some of these image formats are \"lossy\" (for example, JPEG). Reducing\nfile sizes for such lossy formats may result in a degradation of image quality,\nand hence, Vision API accuracy.\n\n### Image sizing\n\nTo enable accurate image detection within the Vision API, images\nshould generally be a minimum of 640 x 480 pixels (about 300k pixels). Full\ndetails for different types of Vision API Feature requests are shown below:\n\n| **Note:** Vision API requires images to be a sufficient size so that important features within the request can be easily distinguished. Sizes smaller or larger than these recommended sizes may work. However, smaller sizes may result in lower accuracy, while larger sizes may increase processing time and bandwidth usage without providing comparable benefits in accuracy. Image size should not exceed 75M pixels (length x width) for OCR analysis. If the image size exceeds 75M pixels (length x width) , the Vision API resizes the image; otherwise, the Vision API uses the original image.\n\nThese recommended sizes differ based on the feature being detected. For example,\n`FACE_DETECTION` requests generally requires larger image sizes because the\nfeatures being detected (faces) are smaller than the image itself.\n`LABEL_DETECTION` requests, on the other hand, generally evaluate an entire\nimage.\n\nIn practice, a standard size of 640 x 480 pixels works well in most cases;\nsizes larger than this may not gain much in accuracy, while greatly diminishing\nthroughput. When at all possible, pre-process your images to reduce their size\nto these minimum standards.\n\nFile size\n---------\n\nImage files sent to the Vision API should not exceed 20MB. Files exceeding 20MB generate an error. The Vision API does not resize files of this size.\nReducing your file size can significantly improve throughput; however, be\ncareful not to reduce image quality in the process. Note that the Vision API\nimposes a 10MB JSON request size limit; larger files should be hosted on Cloud\nStorage or on the web, rather than being passed as base64-encoded content in the\nJSON itself."]]
