About this plugin
Search, embed, and publish from a library of over 55 million free-to-embed images – without leaving WordPress. Built for publishers who need speed, protection, and SEO integrity.
SmartFrame Images: Embed editorial images for free in WordPress
SmartFrame Images gives your editorial team access to over 55 million images, searchable and embeddable directly from inside the WordPress editor.
No downloads. No uploads. No switching between platforms.
Search for an image, click to embed, and publish – the entire workflow happens inside the CMS your team already uses.
The plugin integrates the SmartFrame Images library and secure embed technology into WordPress, replacing the slow default workflow of sourcing images on external platforms, downloading files, and re-uploading them to your site.
For publishers managing high volumes of editorial content, that means faster turnaround, a cleaner workflow, and images that are protected the moment they go live.
Embed over 55 million images – at no cost
The SmartFrame Images library contains over 55 million images spanning news, sports, entertainment, lifestyle, and more – all available for publishers to embed at no cost.
Your team can search the full library from inside any post or page and embed directly into any article. A free SmartFrame account is all that is required to get started.
Built for editorial teams publishing at scale
SmartFrame is designed for the realities of newsroom publishing – speed, volume, and accuracy. The plugin is used by news organizations, sports publishers, media platforms, and content networks that need a reliable image workflow that does not slow down their teams.
Image protection as standard
SmartFrame securely embeds streamed images in its proprietary format, rather than exposing original files. Images published on your site cannot be easily downloaded, scraped, or reused without authorization – an important safeguard for publishers working with premium visual content.
This protection applies automatically. There are no additional steps for your editorial team and no change to the publishing process.
Maintain SEO and syndication integrity
SmartFrame handles the technical complexity of image delivery across different environments automatically. SmartFrame serves standard image previews to search engines and aggregators where required. This means your content is indexed correctly by Google, with no loss of SEO value and no manual configuration required.
Enterprise infrastructure, built for high-traffic publishing
The SmartFrame Cloud delivers images through a globally distributed, high-availability infrastructure built on a scalable AWS-based platform. 9% uptime – designed specifically for the demands of high-traffic publishing environments. SmartFrame Images is trusted by major international publishers across news and sports.
Works inside your existing WordPress workflow
SmartFrame Images integrates natively with both the Gutenberg block editor and the Classic Editor. The plugin includes a dedicated SmartFrame image block, featured image support, built-in search with history tracking, and improved filtering and sorting. There is nothing new for your editorial team to learn – the plugin fits directly into the workflow they already have.
Getting started takes minutes
Install and activate the plugin, connect your free SmartFrame account via your API key, and your team can start embedding images immediately. Once connected, there is no ongoing configuration required. SmartFrame Technologies Ltd is a GDPR-compliant company based in Europe – your data is never sold or shared with third parties.
COMPATIBILITY NOTES
Development and Source Code
This plugin uses modern JavaScript (React/Gutenberg blocks) and Tailwind CSS. The files located in the build/ folder are compiled and minified.
The uncompiled, human-readable source code is located in the src/ folder of this plugin. The full development repository can also be found publicly at:
com/smartframe-wordpress/smartframe-images
How to Build from Source
js and npm installed.
- Open your terminal and navigate to the root directory of this plugin.
- Install the necessary development dependencies by running:
npm install
- To compile and minify the assets into the build/ directory, run:
npm run build
- To create an installable plugin zip file run:
npm run plugin-zip
- For active development (which watches for changes and recompiles automatically), run:
npm run start