How can you differentiate between a URL path and a file path in PHP when dealing with images?

When dealing with images in PHP, it's important to differentiate between a URL path and a file path. A URL path is the address used to access an image on the web, while a file path is the location of the image on the server's file system. To ensure compatibility and proper handling of images, you can use the PHP function `file_exists()` to check if the image file exists on the server using the file path.

$image_url = 'https://example.com/images/image.jpg';
$image_file = '/var/www/html/images/image.jpg';

if (file_exists($image_file)) {
    // Process image using file path
    echo 'Image file exists on the server';
} else {
    // Handle case where image file does not exist
    echo 'Image file does not exist on the server';
}