Media Management at Scale: R2 Storage + Cloudflare Images in Payload CMS

The Media Pipeline

Every image in Digi37 flows through a pipeline: Upload → R2 Storage → Cloudflare Images → Edge Cache → User. Each step is optimized for speed and cost.

R2: Zero Egress Storage

R2 is S3-compatible object storage with zero egress fees. For media-heavy sites, this alone can save thousands per month:

• $0.015/GB/month storage
• $0.00 egress — unlimited bandwidth
• S3-compatible API — works with existing tools
• Automatic multi-region replication

Cloudflare Images API

Instead of generating thumbnails at upload time, we use on-the-fly transformation:

1// Transform images via URL params2const optimized = `https://imagedelivery.net/${accountId}/${imageId}/w=800,h=600,fit=cover,format=auto`3 4// Payload integration (custom sharp replacement)5// Runs at upload time in production, client-side in dev

Gallery: Grid Mode Example

Sample Gallery — Grid Layout

Custom HTML Embed Example