Django rest framework - return image as response

Question

I am calling a django rest framework get api to create a barcode. Its working fine when I tried to save it as an image.

@api_view(['GET'])
def mybarcode(request):
    from elaphe import barcode

        code = barcode('datamatrix', "sampletext",
                       encoding='utf-8', scale=2,
                       options=dict(columns=24, rows=24),
                       margin=2, data_mode='50bits')
        code.save("mybarcode.jpg")
        return Response({'status': True})

This working fine when I call this API as "http://127.0.0.1:9999/api/v1/testbarcode". An image will be created with the name "mybarcode.jpg" and the api return its status as True.

But I would like to return the image as the result of this api call. Because I have to include this in a image tag.

<img src='http://127.0.0.1:9999/api/v1/testbarcode' />

Is there any way to do this?

I think not. You can only return the storage path of the saved image. You can use Storage servers like AWS. — Mirza715
– Mirza715, Commented May 29, 2018 at 11:31
i think you need to store it at some place(storage), it is easier to store it in DB and return the image path with serializers, or if you don't want it then you need to convert that image to base64 in string format and return that string. — Pawanvir singh
– Pawanvir singh, Commented May 29, 2018 at 11:47

Chris · Accepted Answer · 2020-08-24 14:24:29Z

6

I used this to return a member's QR code:

@staticmethod
def qr_code(request, member_id):
    m = Member.objects.get(id=member_id)
    response = HttpResponse(m.generate_qrcode())
    response['Content-Type'] = "image/png"
    response['Cache-Control'] = "max-age=0"
    return response

Calling this on the Member class:

def generate_qrcode(self):
    qr = qrcode.QRCode(
        version=2,
        error_correction=qrcode.constants.ERROR_CORRECT_H,
        box_size=4,
        border=0,
    )
    qr.add_data(self.formatted_id())
    qr.make(fit=True)

    img = qr.make_image()

    buffer = BytesIO()
    img.save(buffer)

    return buffer.getbuffer()

This way nothing touches the disk, although I think it will hog memory at higher concurrencies.

answered Aug 24, 2020 at 14:24

Chris

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Comments

Vinay P · Accepted Answer · 2018-05-29 12:17:56Z

3

Returning an image/file in Django view should be avoided. Web-servers NGINX/Apache are good at handling them.

Save the image in a storage, like local disk, AWS S3 or other cloud storage. And then render image depending on where it stored.

In case of local storage it can be delivered using web server. Images stored in AWS S3 can be served via AWS CDN Cloudfront.

answered May 29, 2018 at 12:17

Vinay P

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3 Comments

fferrin Over a year ago

Do you mean that in production it is better to send https://serverpath/media/user/123/profile.png instead of having an API like https://serverpath/api/user/123/profile that returns the image?

Chris Over a year ago

This answer is not really relevant to the question - you wouldn't generate every possible barcode and save in S3. But where this answer is relevant, when you have a specific set of media files, use the Django MEDIA_URL settings. S3 does have public URLs too, which are slightly slower but save on the fairly pricey CloudFront costs.

ABN Over a year ago

Why returning an image/file in Django view should be avoided? How do we handle generation of qr or bar code image? For static files, yes you should avoid. The author is not talking about static files. The author question is about dynamic images.

Pawanvir singh · Accepted Answer · 2018-05-29 11:54:39Z

0

for converting image to base64

import base64
def(yourimagefile):
     with open(yourimagefile, "rb") as image_file:
         base64string = base64.b64encode(image_file.read())
         return base64string

hook this module after your image created and change your html for displaying the base64 content

answered May 29, 2018 at 11:54

Pawanvir singh

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Comments

user14160202 · Accepted Answer · 2020-08-24 21:57:21Z

0

Still too much code. Simplified:

import io
import segno

def generate_qrcode(self):
    buffer = io.BytesIO()
    segno.make(self.formatted_id(), version=2, error='h') \
         .save(buffer, kind='png', scale=4, border=0)
    return buffer.getvalue()

edited Aug 24, 2020 at 21:57

answered Aug 24, 2020 at 21:45

user14160202

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