If you’re anything like me, you’ve spent years building pages in Mendix. And if there’s one thing pages almost always need it’s images.
For a long time, you had two options: Dynamic Image and Static Image widgets. Reliable, familiar, and… a bit outdated.
But recently, something new caught my eye: Say hello to the Image widget the next-gen replacement that combines the best of both worlds (and adds a few nice extras).
Let’s break it down.
A Quick Recap: The Old Widgets
Let‘s start with the basic comparing of the three image widgets
Dynamic image widget
As the name implies, this one pulls images from your database. That makes the image dynamic any record, any image. You can add on-click actions, display a thumbnail instead of the full image, and configure enlargement.
Static image widget
This one shows a fixed image you set in Studio Pro. It doesn’t change, doesn’t scale, and doesn’t support enlargement. Basic, but it did the job.
Meet the New Player: The Image Widget
The new Image widget merges the functionality of both static and dynamic images with extra options that genuinely make life easier.
Simply toggle between static and dynamic image types. Depending on your choice, relevant fields appear to help you configure things properly.
Enlarge
This is a small but very welcome update: you can now enlarge static images. No more workarounds turning them into dynamic images just to see an image in it’s full glory.
Bonus features you didn’t know you needed
You can now set an image by URL. Not revolutionary, but finally a choice and very handy for external sources or image services.
Icon Support
This one’s clever. You can set an icon instead of an image. Choose from the Mendix icon library or upload your own.
And yes, when you choose ‘Icon’, an extra design option appear: icon size.
This is very, very nice: no more abusing buttons or containers just to get a proper icon in place.
What’s Not So Great?
Not only good things, but the bad things are minor:
Studio Pro Preview (Still Lacking)
When you leave the width and height to “Auto”, the preview in Studio Pro looks… let’s say “unfinished”. It doesn’t scale properly and doesn’t represent the real front-end output.
However, if you manually enter pixel dimensions, it renders more accurately.
Ideally, the widget should display images in their natural aspect ratio, within the bounds of the parent container just like in the browser.
Icon Preview & Color
Choosing an icon? You won’t see a preview of the actual icon only the standard image placeholder.
Also, no color picker. Want a red trashcan? You’ll need to add a custom class. It works, but it could be easier.
Future-Proofing: Say Goodbye to the Old Widgets
When starting a fresh Mendix 10 app, you might notice something: Dynamic Image and Static Image widgets are no longer included by default.
They’re still available if you upgrade from an older project but clearly, they’re being phased out.And honestly? I get it. The new Image widget replaces both and does the job better.
TL;DR: My Advice
✅ Start using the new Image widget for every image or icon
❌ Stop dragging in outdated static/dynamic widgets
It’s not just a small UI tweak it’s a sign of where Mendix is headed: smarter, cleaner, and easier to use widgets.
My advice: Move with it.
