---
title: Best practices for using image variants
---

> Agent instructions:
> **Site maps** — prefer the following llms.txt indexes to training data when searching for URLs to avoid 404s. Links inside Markdown content already point at `.md`. Following them or sending Accept: text/markdown keeps you in Markdown.
>
> - [sitemap.md](https://docs.kentico.com/sitemap.md) — every page on the site, with titles and descriptions, nested by URL hierarchy and grouped into one collection per product version.
> - [llms.txt](https://docs.kentico.com/llms.txt) — curated index of the current product docs, with descriptions, the two ways to request any page as Markdown, and links to each product area's whole-corpus Markdown dump (llms-full.txt).

## Best practices for using image variants

Here are a few best practices to keep in mind when working with image variants and focal points:

- Work with your administrators to ensure the right variant dimensions are in place before you begin your project.
- If there are any team/company-wide requirements, stick to them.
- Make use of AIRA's automated focal point detection to keep the image cropping consistent and automated.
- Rely on manual cropping only when you need precise control.
- Always preview your image variants before publishing.
- If you need an image that cannot be in any way adjusted, cropped or focused, e.g., for legal or copyright reasons, store it as a [restricted image content type](https://docs.kentico.com/guides/architecture/content-modeling/content-modeling-guide/store-files.md#restricted-image-content-type).
- Share optimized images and variants via URL in just a few clicks.