Is there a recommended best practice for handling images in a PHP application, particularly in terms of storage?

When handling images in a PHP application, it is recommended to store the images outside of the web root directory to prevent direct access. One common approach is to store the images in a separate directory outside of the public_html folder and serve them through PHP scripts that validate access permissions. 

<?php
// Define the directory to store images
$imageDirectory = '/path/to/image/directory/';

// Check if the image exists and serve it
if (isset($_GET['image'])) {
    $imagePath = $imageDirectory . $_GET['image'];
    
    if (file_exists($imagePath)) {
        header('Content-Type: image/jpeg'); // Adjust content type based on image type
        readfile($imagePath);
        exit;
    } else {
        echo 'Image not found';
    }
}
?>

Keywords

image processing storage PHP application file upload database integration

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