🚀 Built a Serverless Image Optimizer with AWS Lambda + S3 (Free Tier Safe)

TL;DR: Upload an image to S3 → Lambda compresses it → Optimized version appears.
Fully serverless, beginner-friendly, and no surprise AWS bills.

👋 Introduction

Image compression is a common but repetitive task — especially for indie developers or small teams deploying images to the cloud. So I decided to build an automated image optimizer using AWS Lambda and S3.

This project runs 100% on the AWS Free Tier, and I’ve included teardown scripts to help you avoid any unwanted charges.

Whether you’re learning AWS, building portfolio projects, or automating real-world workflows — this one’s for you.

⚙️ What I Built

Whenever you upload an image to a specific S3 bucket, it automatically triggers a Lambda function which:

• Reads the image
• Compresses it using Pillow (Python image library)
• Saves an optimized version back to the bucket with the prefix optimized-

This is all done in a serverless fashion — no EC2, no containers, no headache.

🛠️ Tech Stack

• AWS Lambda — Python 3.11 function to handle the image compression
• Amazon S3 — Triggers Lambda on image uploads
• IAM Roles — To grant minimal and secure permissions
• Pillow — For optimizing images in Python
• Shell Scripts — To deploy and clean up resources easily

📁 Project Structure

serverless-image-optimizer/
├── lambda/
│   └── handler.py             # Main Lambda code
├── deploy/
│   ├── create_resources.sh    # Setup script
│   ├── delete_resources.sh    # Teardown script
│   └── trust-policy.json      # IAM trust policy
├── test-images/               # Sample images
├── requirements.txt           # Pillow dependency
└── README.md

🚀 How It Works

• Upload an image (.jpg, .png) to your S3 bucket.
• Lambda automatically gets triggered.
• It compresses and saves the new image as optimized-filename.jpg.
• Simple. Fast. Scalable. Free-tier friendly.

🧯 Avoiding AWS Charges

Cloud costs can creep up if you’re not careful. This project is:

• ✅ 100% AWS Free Tier compatible
• ✅ No long-running services (like EC2)
• ✅ Includes a delete_resources.sh teardown script

Run this when you’re done:

bash deploy/delete_resources.sh

📂 GitHub Repo

👉 View Full Code on GitHub
Includes full setup, teardown, and README documentation.

📈 Who Should Use or Learn from This?

• Cloud beginners looking to practice Lambda + S3 triggers
• Indie hackers automating small tasks
• DevOps learners building their portfolio
• Freelancers wanting cost-safe infrastructure automation

🧠 What I Learned

• How to securely connect Lambda to S3
• Optimizing Lambda deployment with zipped packages
• Using IAM roles with least-privilege principle
• Keeping projects within the Free Tier to avoid billing issues

💬 Feedback?

Have suggestions? Want to collaborate?
I’m open to feedback, pull requests, or just geeking out over serverless ideas!

📢 Let’s Connect

If you’re a solo developer, early-stage startup, or indie hacker looking to automate your AWS infra, I’m offering free 30-min consultations.
DM me on LinkedIn or leave a comment!