Get Thumbnail Representation
Get Thumbnail Representation
A thumbnail is a small image, either as .png or as .jpg that can be used in
an application as a representation of the file, for example as a placeholder for
a link that downloads or previews the file.
All thumbnail representations except 1024x1024 and 2048x2048 PNGs are
generated upon uploading the source file to Box.
An alternative way to get a thumbnail for a file is using the thumbnail API.
The process
To get a thumbnail representation follow the following steps
- List all representations
- Request a thumbnail
by passing the
X-Ref-Hints-header for the desired thumbnail format and size, for example[jpg?dimensions=32x32]. - Download the thumbnail
by calling the
url_template, replacing the{+asset_path}with an empty string.
Examples
The following a some example x-rep-hints-header values
x-rep-hints: [jpg?dimensions=32x32] |
|---|
Returns a 32x32 JPEG thumbnail |
x-rep-hints: [jpg?dimensions=32x32][jpg?dimensions=1024x1024] |
|---|
Returns 32x32 and 1024x1024 JPEG thumbnails |
x-rep-hints: [jpg?dimensions=32x32][png?dimensions=2048x2048] |
|---|
Returns a 32x32 JPEG and a 2048x2048 PNG thumbnail |
x-rep-hints: [jpg?dimensions=2048x2048,png?dimensions=2048x2048] |
|---|
Returns a 2048x2048 JPEG or a 2048x2048 PNG thumbnail, returning the first representation that is available. If neither is available it returns no representations |
Supported file sizes
The following formats and sizes of thumbnails are available.
| File Type | Dimensions |
|---|---|
| JPG | 32x32, 94x94, 160x160, 320x320, 1024x1024, 2048x2048* |
| PNG | 1024x1024*, 2048x2048* |
Some restrictions apply to the sizes marked as *.
File size restrictions
JPEG 2048x2048
The JPEG 2048x2048 size is only available when the
original file is a JPEG. We recommend either requesting a PNG or both a PNG
and a JPEG for this dimension.
Video files
JPEG 2048x2048, PNG 2048x20148 and PNG 1024x1024 representations are not
available for video files.
Original file size
Thumbnails are not scaled up. If the original file size of the file uploaded to Box is smaller than the representation dimensions, the resulting thumbnail is capped at the size of the original file.
Supported file types
At this time the following file types are supported.
| File Type | File Extensions |
|---|---|
| Documents | doc, docx, gdoc, gsheet, gslide, gslides, odp, ods, odt, pdf, ppt, pptx, rtf, wpd, xls, xlsm, xlsx, key, pages, numbers |
| Images | ai, bmp, gif, eps, jpeg, jpg, png, ps, psd, svg, tif, tiff, dcm, dicm, svs, tga |
| Audio | aac, aifc, aiff, amr, au, flac, m4a, mp3, ogg, ra, wav, wma |
| Video | 3g2, 3gp, avi, m2v, m2ts, m4v, mkv, mov, mp4, mpeg, mpg, ogg, mts, qt, wmv |