use next/image again

[hasparus]

Description

This PR:

• removes the nextImageExportOptimizer directory with the rescaled images,
• goes back to using next/image instead of next-image-export-optimizer,
• switches off output: export
• I considered using lqip-modern, but plaiceholder just fits really well here and required very little code to integrate

@saihaj I can't believe you and that one comment from Benjie in the WG issue got me to do this, but here it is.

This isn't just a refactor, because the new placeholder do in fact look better.

How to use the placeholders?

• Use placeholder=blur with blurDataURL whenever you want something very smooth.
• You don't have to pass blurDataURL explicitly if the src is StaticImageData from file import.
• Use plaiceholder with getStaticProps in pages and server components in app to get LQIPs for remote images.
• Use placeholder={data:image/${base64Placeholder}`} whenever you want something a bit pixelated. Normally I wouldn't but in some places it looks very appropriate with our design system.

Disclaimer: This PR can be reverted if it turns out Vercel's Image Optimization API is prohibitively expensive.

Context

One historic reason for using next-image-export-optimizer could have been the incompatibility of next/image with output: export. However, SSG in Next.js is no longer locked under output: export.

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Project	Deployment	Preview	Comments	Updated (UTC)
graphql-github-io	Ready	Preview	Comment	Oct 14, 2025 10:25pm