Use a preview file without a player

After a media item has been uploaded to your account, JW Player creates several related assets. Preview files (also known as a video thumbnails) are amongst the related assets that are created. You can use the video thumbnails outside of the video player to build interactive sites and applications to engage audiences.

Locate video thumbnails URLs

Use the following steps to locate the URLs of your video thumbnails:

Make a GET /v2/media/{media_id} call. Be sure to replace the {media_id} placeholder with the media ID of the media asset.

GET https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/12Ac43DB

The API returns a response that includes the playlist[].images[] array.

{
    "title": "Test Video",
    "description": "This is a test video.",
    "kind": "Single Item",
    "playlist": [{
        "title": "Test Video",
        "mediaid": "12Ac43DB",
        "link": "https://cdn.jwplayer.com/previews/12Ac43DB",
        "image": "https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/12Ac43DB/poster.jpg?width=720",
        "images": [{
            "src": "https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/12Ac43DB/poster.jpg?width=320",
            "width": 320,
            "type": "image/jpeg"
        }, {
            "src": "https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/12Ac43DB/poster.jpg?width=480",
            "width": 480,
            "type": "image/jpeg"
        }, {
            "src": "https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/12Ac43DB/poster.jpg?width=640",
            "width": 640,
            "type": "image/jpeg"
        }, {
            "src": "https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/12Ac43DB/poster.jpg?width=720",
            "width": 720,
            "type": "image/jpeg"
        }, {
            "src": "https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/12Ac43DB/poster.mp4?width=320",
            "width": 320,
            "type": "video/mp4"
        }, {
            "src": "https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/12Ac43DB/poster.mp4?width=640",
            "width": 640,
            "type": "video/mp4"
        }],
        ...
    }],
}

Filter the playlist[].images[] array by type === 'video/mp4'. The URLs for the video thumbnail will be returned in the src property.

{
    "src": "https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/12Ac43DB/poster.mp4?width=320",
    "width": 320,
    "type": "video/mp4"
}, {
    "src": "https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/12Ac43DB/poster.mp4?width=640",
    "width": 640,
    "type": "video/mp4"
}

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IMPORTANT
Be careful not to confuse the playlist[].image property with the playlist[].images[] array.

Copy the URL value of the src property. You can insert the URL into a video player or platform.

Locate video thumbnails URLs

🚧IMPORTANT

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IMPORTANT