“Embedding” an image just means showing it inline somewhere using a link to where the file lives, instead of re-uploading it. The trick is using the right snippet for the place you're pasting into — and hosting the file somewhere fast that allows hotlinking. Here's every common format.
1. On a web page (HTML)
The <img> tag is all you need. Always include alt text for accessibility and SEO, and loading="lazy" so off-screen images don't block the page.
<img src="https://i.swiftimg.com/variants/9fK2/display.webp"
alt="Sunset over the bay" loading="lazy" />To make the image clickable (e.g. to open the full-size version), wrap it in a link:
<a href="https://swiftimg.com/i/9fK2">
<img src="https://i.swiftimg.com/variants/9fK2/display.webp" alt="Sunset" />
</a>2. In Markdown (READMEs, GitHub, docs, Reddit)
Markdown's image syntax is an exclamation mark, the alt text in square brackets, then the URL in parentheses:
3. On a forum (BBCode)
Many forums use BBCode. Use [img] tags, and link back to the source page with [url] so people can find the original:
[url=https://swiftimg.com/i/9fK2][img]https://i.swiftimg.com/variants/9fK2/display.webp[/img][/url]4. In chat (Discord, Slack)
Chat apps unfurl a direct image link automatically — just paste the direct URL and the app renders a preview. No special syntax required.
Tips for embeds that don't break
- Host somewhere that allows hotlinking. Some hosts block requests that come from other sites, which leaves you with a broken image. swiftimg serves assets with permissive caching so they load anywhere.
- Embed an optimized variant, not a 10 MB original. Linking the resized WebP
displayvariant keeps pages fast. - Use a stable URL. swiftimg URLs are immutable and cached globally, so an embed you paste today keeps working.
With swiftimg, every upload gives you all of these snippets ready to copy — open any image and use the Share & embed box.