# Automate: create images by URL and API

> Use Automate in the template editor to create an image URL with your own values or test a request to the render API, including aliases, costs and limits.

Source: https://bluepic.io/help/data-and-automation/automation-campaigns  
Language: en  
Category: data-and-automation  
Last updated: 2026-10-22

In the template editor, **Automate** creates images and videos from your template without the design generator. You get an image URL that carries the values of your input fields, or a ready-made request to the API. Through the API, other software orders images from Bluepic. You only need the **API** tab if someone builds such a connection. You find Automate in the **Share** menu of the template editor.

This takes two steps:

1. Create an image URL with your values in the **Automate** popup.
2. Test a request to the API in the **API** tab.


## Create an image URL

1. Click **Share** at the top right of the toolbar. A menu opens.

   ![Share menu in the template editor with Automate highlighted.](https://imagedelivery.net/mudX-CmAqIANL8bxoNCToA/help/KB-automation-campaigns-04/public){width="207"}

2. Click **Automate**. Bluepic saves the template, and the **Automate** popup opens in the **Image URL** tab. Your template's URL is at the top, a live preview below it. Every input field is a value in the URL, after an equals sign.
3. Click a value in the URL. What comes next depends on the input field:

   - For a text:
     - Type your text and press **Enter**.
   - For an image:
     - Choose one of your images from the list.

   The live preview now shows your design with the new value.

   > **You see Query string is … bytes, the API accepts 2048?** The part of the URL after the `?` can be at most 2048 bytes long. Shorten a value or remove one.

   ![Automate in the Image URL tab: a value in the URL was changed and the live preview shows it.](https://imagedelivery.net/mudX-CmAqIANL8bxoNCToA/help/KB-automation-campaigns-01/public)

4. Click the gear to the right of the URL. The **URL settings** popup opens.

   ![URL settings with Readable alias, Format and Scale.](https://imagedelivery.net/mudX-CmAqIANL8bxoNCToA/help/KB-automation-campaigns-02/public){width="512"}

5. Choose the settings for your URL:

   - **Readable alias**: a readable name in the URL instead of the template's ID. When you tick it, you choose under **Scope** whether the URL sits under **Personal** or under your team, and type the name under **Alias**. **Save** saves the alias. It applies to the template right away, not only to this URL. If you later change the alias or your team's URL scope, URLs with the old name stop working.
   - **Canvas**: which canvas is rendered. Only there when the template has several canvases.
   - **Format**: the file type, for example `png` or `jpeg`, for animations `mp4` or `mov`.
   - **Scale**: the size of the file, from **@0.5x** to **@4x**.

6. Click the icon with the two pages to the right of the URL. This is **Copy URL**. The URL is now on your clipboard. Anyone who knows it can open the file. So don't put private data into it.

   ![Right end of the URL bar in the Image URL tab with the icons Copy URL, Open in a new tab and the gear highlighted.](https://imagedelivery.net/mudX-CmAqIANL8bxoNCToA/help/KB-automation-campaigns-05/public){width="894"}

7. Click the icon with the arrow leaving a box. This is **Open in a new tab**. The file opens in a new browser tab.
8. Check that the file shows your values and has the right file type.

   > **The file doesn't show your values?** If the render fails, the URL returns the template's saved preview image instead of an error. Check the values in the URL. The safest way is to copy the URL again from **Automate**.

Image URLs run on `image.bluepic.io`, videos on `video.bluepic.io`. You can use them anywhere an image or video is loaded from a link.

> **Caution:** The URL of a canvas other than the default canvas contains its size, for example `1080x1350`. If you change that size, old URLs return a 404 error. If **Resizable** is on in the properties panel under **Advanced**, they return the default canvas fitted to that size instead.

## Test an API request

1. Click the **API** tab at the top of the **Automate** popup. The top line now reads `POST https://api.bluepic.io/v1/renders`. Below it you see the same request as a curl command, with the values from the **Image URL** tab and your API key. If you don't have an API key yet, Studio creates one for you.

   > **You see No API key: …?** Studio couldn't create an API key for you. Create one under **Settings** → **Developer** → **Keys** and open **Automate** again.

2. If your application shouldn't wait for the file, tick **Render as a job**. The API then answers right away with a job instead of the file. You query it with `GET /v1/renders/{id}`, or you enter a webhook URL that Bluepic calls with the result. The result is kept for 30 days.
3. Click the triangle at the top right. This is **Send request**. Bluepic renders your design through the API. The result appears in place of the live preview, with its status, file type, size and duration below. This is a real render and costs credits. If it comes from the cache, it says "from cache, not billed".

   ![Automate in the API tab with the curl command; the key is hidden. The Send request button is marked.](https://imagedelivery.net/mudX-CmAqIANL8bxoNCToA/help/KB-automation-campaigns-03/public)

4. Click **Back to live preview**. The live preview appears again. **Download** next to it saves the result first.
5. Click the icon with the two pages. This is **Copy as curl**. The command is now on your clipboard. It contains your API key, so don't share it.

To build the request further, click **Open in Explorer**. The Explorer in the [developer area](https://bluepic.io/help/data-and-automation/developer-area) opens in a new tab with your template already selected.

## Costs

- A new image from an image URL or the API costs 0.01 credit.
- A new video from a video URL or the API costs 0.1 credit.
- If a result comes from the cache because exactly these values were rendered before, it is not billed.
- When the credits run out, URLs keep returning their file, but with a watermark.

## Related articles

- [Developer area: API keys and Explorer](https://bluepic.io/help/data-and-automation/developer-area)
- [Credits: what exports cost](https://bluepic.io/help/account-management/credits)
- [Canvases: offer multiple sizes in one template](https://bluepic.io/help/template-management/canvases)
- [Watermarks and Bluepic branding: when each appears](https://bluepic.io/help/account-management/watermarks)