Guides / curl

Generate dynamic OG images in curl

Pages with custom social cards get measurably more clicks than a generic logo when shared on X, LinkedIn or Slack. Designing one image per blog post by hand doesn't scale — RasterKit renders them from an HTML template with {{variables}} you fill from curl.

Design the card once (plain HTML/CSS — gradients, fonts, avatars), store it as a template, then request /v1/image with a title and author per page. Combine with signed URLs and your og:image tag can point directly at the API.

1. Get an API key

Sign up free (magic link, no card) — your key is shown right after sign-in. You get 100 renders/month free across screenshots, PDFs, and images.

2. Create a template, then render it

Store a template once (dashboard or POST /v1/templates) — HTML/CSS with {{variables}} — then render it with per-page values:

curl -X POST https://rasterkit.com/v1/image \
  -H "x-api-key: $RASTERKIT_API_KEY" \
  -H "content-type: application/json" \
  -d '{"template_id": "tpl_your_template", "variables": {"title": "Hello World", "author": "Paul"}}' \
  -o og-image.png

The response body is the file itself — no JSON envelope to unwrap, no second download request. Errors come back as JSON with a stable error code.

3. Tune the output

The OG Image API reference documents every parameter. The ones people reach for first:

Use cases

FAQ

What size should OG images be?

1200×630 (the default) renders crisply everywhere — X, Facebook, LinkedIn, Slack, iMessage. Use device_scale_factor: 2 for retina-sharp text.

Are variables safe against HTML injection?

Yes — {{variable}} values are HTML-escaped by default. Use triple braces {{{variable}}} only for trusted markup.

Can I use custom fonts?

Yes — load Google Fonts or any @font-face in your template; the engine waits for fonts to be ready before capturing.

Related guides

Get your free API key →