Imagewebp

Imagewebp is a function in PHP’s GD graphics library that outputs or saves an image in the WebP format. WebP is an image format developed by Google that supports both lossy and lossless compression, as well as transparency in certain modes. WebP often yields smaller file sizes than JPEG or PNG for comparable quality, making it a popular choice for web delivery.

Usage and behavior: The function requires the GD extension with WebP support enabled in PHP. It accepts an image resource (for example, one created with imagecreatetruecolor or loaded from an existing image), an optional filename to save to, and an optional quality parameter that controls compression (typically a value range around 0 to 100, with higher values indicating better quality). If a filename is provided, the function writes the WebP image to that file and returns TRUE on success. If the filename is omitted, the function outputs the WebP data to the browser; in this case, you should send a proper Content-Type header, usually image/webp, before invoking it.

Return value: The function returns TRUE on success and FALSE on failure.

Notes: On servers where GD is built without WebP support, imagewebp will not operate. Check phpinfo() or the GD configuration to confirm WebP support. Imagewebp is one of several image-encoding helpers in PHP’s GD library, alongside imagejpeg, imagepng, and imagegif, and is commonly used in workflows that generate or serve WebP-encoded images for improved performance.