Reads an image from a file path or URL, optionally resizes it, and
returns a base64-encoded PNG string suitable for AI vision APIs.
Usage
b64EncodeImage(img_path, max_width = 1000)
Arguments
- img_path
Character. File path or URL to the image.
- max_width
Numeric. Maximum width in pixels. Images wider than
this are scaled down proportionally. Default 1000.
Value
Character. Base64-encoded PNG string.
Details
**Processing:**
- Validates file existence or URL reachability
- Reads image using magick
- Resizes if width exceeds max_width
- Converts to PNG format
- Returns base64-encoded string
**Supported formats:** Any format readable by magick (PNG, JPEG, GIF, WebP, etc.)
Examples
if (FALSE) { # \dontrun{
# Encode local file
b64 <- b64EncodeImage("artwork.png")
# Encode with custom max width
b64 <- b64EncodeImage("large-image.jpg", max_width = 2000)
# Encode from URL
b64 <- b64EncodeImage("https://example.com/image.png")
} # }
