Lando Image Placeholder for PrestaShop

Intercepts missing product image requests and serves a static placeholder JPEG. Works for both Apache (lamp) and nginx (lemp) Lando recipes.

Step 0 — Detect recipe

Read .lando.yml and check recipe::

• recipe: lamp → follow Apache path
• recipe: lemp → follow nginx path

Apache path (recipe: lamp)

1. Create .lando/apache-placeholder.conf

Replace {project} with the name: field from .lando.yml:

<VirtualHost *:80>
  ServerName {project}.lndo.site
  DocumentRoot /app
  <Directory /app>
    Options Indexes FollowSymLinks
    AllowOverride All
    Require all granted
  </Directory>
  RewriteEngine On
  # PS friendly image URLs: /{id}-{type}_default/...
  RewriteCond /app%{REQUEST_URI} !-f
  RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} ^/[0-9]+-[a-z]+_default
  RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} \.(jpg|jpeg|png|gif|webp)$
  RewriteRule ^ /img/placeholder-dev.jpg [L]
  # PS traditional image paths: /img/p/, /img/c/, /img/m/, /img/st/
  RewriteCond /app%{REQUEST_URI} !-f
  RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} ^/img/(p|c|m|st)/
  RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} \.(jpg|jpeg|png|gif|webp)$
  RewriteRule ^ /img/placeholder-dev.jpg [L]
  # NOTE: /stupload/ excluded — slider/module images live there.
</VirtualHost>

The RewriteCond /app%{REQUEST_URI} !-f checks the real filesystem path in the container — only fires for truly missing files.

2. Get the placeholder image

See [Choosing the placeholder image](#choosing-the-placeholder-image) below — prefer a real product photo from the shop over a generic stock image.

3. Update .lando.yml

Add vhosts key under services.appserver.config (merge, don't overwrite):

services:
  appserver:
    config:
      vhosts: .lando/apache-placeholder.conf

4. Rebuild

lando rebuild -y

nginx path (recipe: lemp)

Placeholder rules go directly into .lando/nginx-site.conf — no separate file needed. If nginx-site.conf already exists (standard PS9 setup), just add the location blocks. If it doesn't exist, create it.

1. Add/verify placeholder blocks in .lando/nginx-site.conf

These two location blocks must appear before the main location / block:

# Placeholder — friendly URLs: /{id}-{type}_default/...
location ~* ^/[0-9]+-[a-z]+_default.*\.(jpg|jpeg|png|gif|webp)$ {
    try_files $uri /img/placeholder-dev.jpg;
}

# Placeholder — classic PS paths: /img/p/, /img/c/, /img/m/, /img/st/
location ~* ^/img/(p|c|m|st)/.*\.(jpg|jpeg|png|gif|webp)$ {
    try_files $uri /img/placeholder-dev.jpg;
}

If nginx-site.conf doesn't exist yet, use the full PS9 template from lando-setup skill Step 9 — it already includes these blocks.

2. Get the placeholder image

See [Choosing the placeholder image](#choosing-the-placeholder-image) below — prefer a real product photo from the shop over a generic stock image.

3. .lando.yml must reference the nginx config

services:
  appserver:
    config:
      vhosts: .lando/nginx-site.conf

If already set, no change needed.

4. Rebuild

lando rebuild -y

Choosing the placeholder image

Use a real product photo from this shop, not a generic stock image. A landscape or abstract photo repeated across a product grid reads as "everything is broken" and makes it impossible to judge layout, aspect ratio or crop while working. A real product photo makes the grid look like the real store.

Try these in order and stop at the first that works.

A — a product image already on disk

Works when img/ was synced (fully or partially) from the server.

SRC=$(find img/p -name "*-home_default.jpg" -size +15k 2>/dev/null | head -1)
[ -z "$SRC" ] && SRC=$(find img/p -name "*.jpg" -size +20k 2>/dev/null | head -1)
[ -n "$SRC" ] && cp "$SRC" img/placeholder-dev.jpg && echo "placeholder <- $SRC"

The -size filter skips the tiny 1×1 and empty-thumb files PS leaves around, which would otherwise be picked and give an invisible placeholder.

B — pull exactly ONE image from the server

Works when img/ was skipped entirely (the usual case for multi-GB shops). Costs one file, not the whole folder.

REMOTE_SRC=$(ssh -i ~/.ssh/{ssh_key} {SSH_TARGET} \
  "find {REMOTE_ROOT}/img/p -name '*-home_default.jpg' -size +15k 2>/dev/null | head -1")
rsync -az -e "ssh -i ~/.ssh/{ssh_key}" {SSH_TARGET}:"$REMOTE_SRC" img/placeholder-dev.jpg

Also worth grabbing the shop logo while you are there — a missing logo in the header is just as misleading as missing products:

rsync -az -e "ssh -i ~/.ssh/{ssh_key}" {SSH_TARGET}:{REMOTE_ROOT}/img/logo.jpg img/logo.jpg

C — generic stock photo (last resort)

Only when there is no server access at all and img/ is empty.

curl -L "https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1611572789411-6240f6cea970?q=80&w=500&h=500&fit=crop" -o img/placeholder-dev.jpg

Sizing

Whatever the source, a square-ish image around 500–800px works best: PS requests the same URL for every thumb size, and a square scales acceptably into both homedefault and largedefault containers. Do not use a wide landscape — it letterboxes in portrait product cards.

Verification (both paths)

curl -I "http://{project}.lndo.site/img/p/1/test.jpg"
# Should return HTTP/1.1 200 OK

Notes

• /stupload/ is excluded in both paths — sliders/modules store images there.
• tryfiles $uri /img/placeholder-dev.jpg in nginx only fires if the file doesn't exist (nginx tryfiles checks real disk).
• .lando.yml is typically gitignored in PS projects — safe to modify locally.