In this roundup, we will look at 5 API categories that will help you get even more benefits from using Filestack with other APIs available, including APIS available from APILayer.com.
- Combine Filestack with geocoding and location finder APIs
- Combine Filestack with image processing and enhancement APIs
- Combine Filestack with video processing and enhancement APIs
- Combine Filestack with audio processing and enhancement APIs
- Combine Filestack with File conversion APIs
- Control what files your users upload to Filestack
If you are already a Filestack API user, you will know what a fantastic service Filestack is. People use Filestack with existing CDN (Content Delivery Networks) for lightning-fast uploading and sharing of files in their apps and for building tools for collaborative use and tracking of files. This article is designed to give you even more ideas of other APIs you could merge with Filestack to create even more powerful software tools and apps.
If you have never heard of Filestack, here is a quick introduction to what it is and does.
Who uses Filestack?
The Filestack API provides a file upload API that enables developers to upload, store, transform, and deliver images and other files. The API also provides a file processing API that allows developers to process images and other files.
- Content Management Systems
- eCommerce Platforms
- Learning Management Systems
- Project Management Systems
- Photo Sharing Websites
- Video Sharing Websites
- Audio Sharing Websites
- File Sharing Websites
- Social Networking Websites
- Blogging Platforms
What is Filestack?
Filestack.com is a file hosting and processing service. It is used by companies that need to host and process large files. It offers programmers a simple programmable API that can be used to create software solutions that Upload, Transform and Deliver files. Filestack can send large files to your website or app to be viewed on mobile and desktop devices without worrying about size limits, file compatibility, or quality.
Every file that is uploaded using Filestack’s File Picker, RESTful API, or transformation engine generates a Content Delivery Network URL. The process is lightning fast, and the Filestack-generated URL can be integrated to work with your existing Content Delivery Network provider such as Akamain or Cloudfront. Microsoft is one of the top web companies that uses Akamai to get their content to their users quickly and reliably.
Using Filestack with Akamai gives you even more options for what kinds of apps you can create that offer a service for managing and delivering content.
Virtually every company uses computer files nowadays, but some companies use computer files more than others. Some companies are always looking for ways to streamline their file handling processes and automate their business workflow. If that sounds like your company, then you are not alone. This is why other companies are using Filestack right now.
- Companies that need to collaborate on files with others
- Companies that need to track changes to files
- Companies that need to version files
- Companies that need to host and process large files
- Companies that need to share files with others – but want to do it through software rather than simply emailing files to one another
- Companies that need to store files securely.
- Companies that need to access files from multiple devices
- Companies that need to sign files electronically.
- Companies that need to encrypt files
- Companies that need to compress files
No matter what programming language you use, adding Filestack to your app is easy.
Improve your user experience with Filestack
1. Combine a geocoding API with Filestack to allow users to upload files with location data attached.
Using a geocoding API such as ipstack can be helpful if you want to enable users to easily upload data that includes location information, such as GPS data, and then display that data on a map.
There are several reasons why your business might want to enable users to automate updating files with maps and locations, such as:
- Allowing users to upload GPS data from a hike or other outdoor activity and then display that data on a map
- Allowing users to upload data from delivery or another service that includes location information and then display that data on a map, think UBER or Deliveroo
- Allowing users to upload data from a survey or other research that includes location information and then display that data on a map
2. Combine an image processing API with Filestack to allow users to apply filters and transformations to images.
There are many reasons why someone might want to use an image processing API to allow users to apply filters and transformations to images.
Suppose your business is in the fashion and beauty industry and needs to present a professional image to the public, or your business needs to ensure that images are compatible with a particular software application. In that case, combining Filestack with an image processing API may be the right way to create the bespoke service you need for handling your files.
With image processing APIs, you can:
- Make the images more aesthetically pleasing
- Make the images more uniform in appearance
- Correct for any errors or imperfections in the original image
- Make the images more compatible with a particular software application or system
You should consider using APILayer’s Computer Vision APIs:
The Image to Text API is a powerful tool that can be used to convert images of text into actual text that a computer program can read. It can automatically understand that text, even handwritten text, is text in an image, even if it is in another language. This can be extremely useful for translating between languages when combined with a language translation API. Additionally, the Image to Text API is very smart, as it can still accurately convert images to text even if the text is at an angle.
The Filestack API could be used to first upload the image to be converted into text. Once the image is uploaded, the Image to Text API could be used to analyze the image and convert it into actual text. This text could then be stored in a database or file using the Filestack API.
The Violence Detection API is a great way to automate the content approval process for apps that send and receive direct messages. The API uses a violence classifier to score the content on a scale from 1 to 5, with 5 meaning the content is probably violent and 1 indicating the content is safe to publish. This score can then determine how your app should process the content.
The Filestack API could be used to help automate the content approval process for apps that send and receive direct messages. Similarly, this API could be used to score the content on a scale from 1 to 5 and this score could then determine whether the content is safe to be published by your app.
It’s easy for people to take and upload pictures, but does your brand and service need to display only high-quality images? This API uses a widely accepted scientific method called BRISQUE (Blind/Referenceless Image Spatial Quality Evaluator) to give an image quality score.
With an image quality score, you can use this service to create algorithms that sort products and listings on your e-commerce site by the image quality score or put them in control settings so that users can only upload high-quality images for ads or product listings.
The Minor Detection API will help you automatically moderate pictures and prevent users from posting images of minors. The API will return a confidence score for each image, so you can decide whether or not to allow it. A score of 1 means that the picture almost certainly contains a minor, while a score close to 0 means the API isn’t sure. In most cases, a score of 0.5 is safe to go.
You could use the Filestack API to upload images to your server, and then use the Minor Detection API to check the images for minors. If the API returns a score of 1, you could reject the image. If the API returns a score close to 0, you could allow the image.
This API can automatically generate cropped images that look like a human cropped them. It does this by first identifying the important elements in an image using image processing and computer vision algorithms. It then crops the image using the aspect ratio or width/height variables you’ve provided without losing the most relevant parts of the content. This API is very useful for media companies, mobile apps, and e-commerce sites.
The Filestack API could be used to automatically store cropped images for a mobile app. This would be a useful feature for an app that needs to crop images on the fly, without losing any important content.
Use this API to blur people’s faces in pictures to protect their privacy before images are stored on your Filestack URLs. Face blurring is a computer vision technique that makes faces in photos less identifiable. When this method is used, the face gets blurry, and it’s hard to tell who the person is. The API Layer Face pixelization API uses Caffe models to run a deep neural network module that looks for faces in an image and gives a confidence score for each face it finds. Once this step is done, it takes the image’s region of interest (ROI) and applies the pixelization filter.
The Image Labeling API makes it easy to create keyword labels for images. The API uses deep learning algorithms to analyze images and return tags that describe the content. This is useful for various tasks, such as identifying objects in pictures or detecting inappropriate content.
The Filestack API makes it easy to upload, store, and manipulate images. With the Image Labeling API, developers can analyze images and return tags that describe the content.
Use the Nudity Detection API to determine whether your app will allow Filestack to generate a file URL. The Nudity Detection API can be integrated with existing applications to flag images as naked content in real-time. The classifier computes a score on a 1 to 5 scale for the content passed to it, with 5 meaning the content is most likely nude and 1 indicating the content is safe to be published. When you build apps using this API, you can decide how much nudity is okay on your platform. You can choose 1 as your threshold value if you want to be 100% safe.
Controlling what is loaded onto your system
Finally, if you want control of what is being loaded onto Filestack by your system users, consider using APILayer’s Image Quality Assessment API, Bad Words API, Violence Detection API, Minor Detection API, and Nudity Detection API.
Product Marketing Manager for Filestack. A technology enthusiast at heart.
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