---
title: "Solving bloated Docker images caused by the Next.js image loader"
description: "Analyzing the causes of Docker image bloat from the Next.js `next/image` component, and proposing various solutions such as Cloudflare Image Optimization, imgix, or a custom loader."
canonical_url: "https://blog.markkulab.net/en/post/react-next-image-loader-issue"
author: "Mark Ku"
author_url: "https://blog.markkulab.net/en/author/mark-ku"
site: "Mark Ku's Tech Notes"
date_published: "2022-07-27 01:01:01 +0800"
category: "Frontend"
tags: ["nextjs", "react", "docker", "image", "cloudflare", "image loader"]
language: "en"
license: "CC BY 4.0"
license_url: "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
attribution: "when reusing or quoting, credit the author and link back to the original"
---

# Solving bloated Docker images caused by the Next.js image loader

## The Problem
When loading images via the `next/image` component, they are all resized by the Next.js server. The image path is rendered as:

```
<img src="https://www.markkulab.com/_next/image?url=https://content.markkulab.com//Images/en-US/Lobby/same_day_rdy_next_01.png&w=1920&q=75"/>
```

## System Impact
* Performance overhead on the Next.js server
* Oversized Docker images

## I looked at [NZXT's website](https://nzxt.com/assets/cms); they also use Next.js and likely use `next/image` to load images. Because they use Imgix's image resizing service, they don't encounter this problem.

## Checking the [Next.js official documentation](https://nextjs.org/docs/api-reference/next/image#loader-configuration), I found that the `next/image` loader can be customized.

```
images: {
    loader: 'imgix',
    path: 'https://example.com/myaccount/',
  },
}
```

## Possible Solutions
* Enable Cloudflare Image Optimization [link](https://developers.cloudflare.com/images/image-resizing/integration-with-frameworks/)
* Purchase an Imgix plan ($300 USD / month)
* Self-host an image loader, e.g., Uploadcare or...
* Stop using `next/image` and write a custom image component that uses a resizing service like Cloudflare => Not recommended, as it's too much hassle.

---

## About this article and its author

Originally published on [Mark Ku's Tech Notes](https://blog.markkulab.net/en/post/react-next-image-loader-issue)

License: [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) — when reusing or quoting, credit the author and link back to the original

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**[Mark Ku](https://blog.markkulab.net/en/author/mark-ku)** — Software Solution Provider

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