Find it once.
Use it across the network.

Choose the right picture

1. Search the image library for the operator, vessel, port or destination. Search alternate spellings if necessary.
2. Open Use image and inspect the photograph. A filename alone is not proof of what the image shows.
3. Prefer Subject checked or Subject documented. Confirm that the vessel, location and any visible livery fit the page. Archive photos may show an earlier livery or service.
4. Review the source, photographer and licence. A photo already published on a FerryEU site is not automatically cleared for further use.
5. Copy the permanent URL or image tag. Include the appropriate credit and licence information in the destination project.
6. If there is no exact match, source a real photograph and add it to this library. Keep a neutral placeholder or omit the image until then; do not present an unrelated ship or place as the named subject.

What the labels mean

Connect a new or existing project

Add the following instruction to your project instructions, brief or AGENTS.md:

For all FerryEU images, consult https://ferryeu.com/image-library/ first.
Read https://ferryeu.com/image-library/AGENTS.md and search the catalogue at
https://ferryeu.com/image-library/catalog.json.
Use an exact subject match and the permanent library image URL. Preserve
credits and licence requirements. Never use a generic or unrelated ship
or destination image to represent a named operator, vessel or place.
Add newly sourced images and source records to the shared library.

Existing pages can adopt the permanent URLs whenever their images are updated. Every image record lists its original locations, so existing references can be matched to the central copy by content hash. Exact duplicate files share one library image; different sizes or crops remain separate records.

Open the complete sourcing instructions · Download the project instruction block

Read the catalogue in a project

The catalogue and image records are public, read-only JSON. They support cross-origin access from FerryEU sites without an account or API key.

For a small result set, read the subject index and open the returned catalogue URL for the subject you need. For example: Alilauro images. Each image links to its full source and usage record. The browser search also matches vessel names and image tags.

const response = await fetch(
  'https://ferryeu.com/image-library/catalog.json'
);
if (!response.ok) throw new Error('Image catalogue unavailable');
const catalogue = await response.json();
const candidates = catalogue.images.filter(image =>
  image.category === 'operators' &&
  ['verified', 'documented'].includes(image.subjectStatus) &&
  image.title.toLowerCase().includes('alilauro')
);
// Inspect the subject and rights record before using candidates[0].
// Use image.url for the permanent original; thumbnailUrl is for previews.

The schema version is 1. Each image has an id, SHA-256 checksum, permanent url, preview URL, category, subject and rights status, dimensions, search tags, source links and a recordUrl. The full record includes original locations and pages that reference the image.

Discovery URL: /.well-known/ferryeu-image-library.json. This pointer is also installed on the scanned FerryEU site roots.

Add and maintain images

1. Use the existing authenticated hosting workflow to upload the image to the relevant site’s public image collection. Keep source URLs, photographer, licence or permission, exact subject and any crop or edit information.
2. Have the site maintainer record this information in the library’s private metadata overrides, keyed by the original file’s SHA-256 checksum.
3. Run the library refresh tools through the hosting account. The inventory, canonical copies and catalogue are regenerated from the current sites. New image bytes get a new permanent URL.
4. Check the resulting record, preview and image URL. Record the image ID in the consuming project and add the required visible credits.

Updates are applied by the maintainer; new uploads do not appear automatically. There is no public upload form. Existing canonical image URLs are retained across refreshes and must not be overwritten with different content.

The inventory covers hosted image files and references in published HTML and stylesheets. Externally hosted images are listed separately for review; they are not silently imported or presented as cleared assets.

External image references · Site coverage and inventory report