What are the best practices for handling image uploads, resizing, and cropping in PHP to ensure optimal performance and user experience?

When handling image uploads, resizing, and cropping in PHP, it is important to optimize performance and user experience by properly validating file types, resizing images to the desired dimensions, and cropping images as needed. This can be achieved using libraries like GD or Imagick to manipulate images efficiently.

// Example code snippet using GD library for image resizing and cropping

// Validate file type and upload image
if ($_FILES["image"]["type"] == "image/jpeg" || $_FILES["image"]["type"] == "image/png") {
    $image = $_FILES["image"]["tmp_name"];
    $newImage = imagecreatefromjpeg($image);

    // Resize image to desired dimensions
    $resizedImage = imagescale($newImage, 300, 200);

    // Crop image to specific dimensions
    $croppedImage = imagecrop($resizedImage, ['x' => 0, 'y' => 0, 'width' => 200, 'height' => 200]);

    // Save cropped image
    imagejpeg($croppedImage, "cropped_image.jpg");

    // Free up memory
    imagedestroy($newImage);
    imagedestroy($resizedImage);
    imagedestroy($croppedImage);
} else {
    echo "Invalid file type. Please upload a JPEG or PNG image.";
}