This article summarizes how to save image files using Laravel storage.

The content mainly follows the official documentation:

Laravel 11.x File Storage

Creating a Symbolic Link with a Command

php artisan storage:link

Running this command links the files in /storage/app/public/ to /public/storage/, allowing you to access them via /storage/filename.png, for example.

When saving image files, the program should store them in /storage/app/ and delete them from there, rather than directly modifying the contents of the /public directory. This setup ensures proper file management.

After running the command, a non-accessible storage file will appear in the /public directory.

To verify the setup, run the following command:

ls -la public

Since public refers to the public directory, make sure to specify the relative path correctly from the directory where you run the command.

For example, in my case, the result was:

lrwxr-xr-x  1 root root  32 Feb  4 04:30 storage -> /var/www/html/storage/app/public

This confirms that the link has been successfully created.

Writing Routes and Controllers

Routing

Route::post('/profile', [ProfileController::class, 'update'])->name('profile.update');

Controller

For example, if the users table has a column named image_url, the following code can be used:

use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Storage;
~~~~~~
public function update(Request $request)
{
    $user = $request->user();
    $image = $request->file('image');

    // Save the image if one was uploaded
    if($image){
        // Saved path
        $image_url = Storage::disk('public')->put('user_profile_image', $image, 'public'); // Save the image
        $user->image_url = $image_url;
        $user->save();
    }
}

View

Make sure to specify multipart/form-data in the <form> tag.

<form
  method="post"
  action="{{ route('profile.update') }}"
  enctype="multipart/form-data"
>
  @csrf
  <input type="file" name="image" />
  <button>Submit</button>
</form>

Confirming the Image is Saved in the Column and Storage Directory

Check the users table and ensure that the image_url column contains a path like:

user_profile_image/T5dNZzqtEUTu00FtkXvzU89n8vCDz8D0mkgZdMdp.png

Also, verify that the image file is saved at:

/storage/app/public/user_profile_image/T5dNZzqtEUTu00FtkXvzU89n8vCDz8D0mkgZdMdp.png

Displaying the Saved Image

Example:

<img src="{{ asset('storage/'.$user->image_url) }}" />

Alternative Methods

Another option is to use cloud storage services.

The main advantages are:

• Unlimited storage capacity, reducing issues related to data volume.
• Easier security configurations.

The disadvantage is the pay-as-you-go pricing model, which can become costly with large file volumes.

Examples include AWS S3 and Azure Storage (Blob).

https://laratech.jp/posts/larave-vue-s3/