diff --git a/bl-kernel/helpers/simple-image.class.php b/bl-kernel/helpers/simple-image.class.php
index bfc89455..51e56733 100644
--- a/bl-kernel/helpers/simple-image.class.php
+++ b/bl-kernel/helpers/simple-image.class.php
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 <?php
 //
-// SimpleImage v3.6.3
+// SimpleImage
 //
 //  A PHP class that makes working with images as simple as possible.
 //
@@ -31,7 +31,8 @@ class SimpleImage {
     ERR_LIB_NOT_LOADED = 8,
     ERR_UNSUPPORTED_FORMAT = 9,
     ERR_WEBP_NOT_ENABLED = 10,
-    ERR_WRITE = 11;
+    ERR_WRITE = 11,
+    ERR_INVALID_FLAG = 12;
 
 
   protected $image;
@@ -46,9 +47,10 @@ class SimpleImage {
    * Creates a new SimpleImage object.
    *
    * @param string $image An image file or a data URI to load.
+   * @param array $flags Optional override of default flags.
    * @throws \Exception Thrown if the GD library is not found; file|URI or image data is invalid.
    */
-  public function __construct($image = null) {
+  public function __construct($image = '', $flags = []) {
     // Check for the required GD extension
     if(extension_loaded('gd')) {
       // Ignore JPEG warnings that cause imagecreatefromjpeg() to fail
@@ -57,6 +59,16 @@ class SimpleImage {
       throw new \Exception('Required extension GD is not loaded.', self::ERR_GD_NOT_ENABLED);
     }
 
+    // Associative array of flags.
+    $this->flags = [
+      "sslVerify" => true // Skip SSL peer validation
+    ];
+    
+    // Override default flag values.
+    foreach($flags as $flag => $value) {
+      $this->setFlag($flag, $value);
+    }
+
     // Load an image through the constructor
     if(preg_match('/^data:(.*?);/', $image)) {
       $this->fromDataUri($image);
@@ -77,6 +89,37 @@ class SimpleImage {
     }
   }
 
+  //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+  // Helper functions
+  //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+
+  /**
+   * Set flag value.
+   *
+   * @param string $flag Name of the flag to set.
+   * @param boolean $value State of the flag.
+   * @throws \Exception Thrown if flag does not exist (no default value).
+   */
+  public function setFlag($flag, $value) {
+    // Throw if flag does not exist
+    if(!in_array($flag, array_keys($this->flags))) {
+      throw new \Exception('Invalid flag.', self::ERR_INVALID_FLAG);
+    }
+
+    // Set flag value by name
+    $this->flags[$flag] = $value;
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Get flag value.
+   *
+   * @param string $flag Name of the flag to get.
+   * @return boolean|null
+   */
+  public function getFlag($flag) {
+    return in_array($flag, array_keys($this->flags)) ? $this->flags[$flag] : null;
+  }
+
   //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
   // Loaders
   //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
@@ -118,70 +161,66 @@ class SimpleImage {
    * Loads an image from a file.
    *
    * @param string $file The image file to load.
+   * @param boolean $sslVerify Set to false to skip SSL validation.
    * @throws \Exception Thrown if file or image data is invalid.
    * @return \claviska\SimpleImage
    */
   public function fromFile($file) {
-    // Check if the file exists and is readable. We're using fopen() instead of file_exists()
-    // because not all URL wrappers support the latter.
-    $handle = @fopen($file, 'r');
-    if($handle === false) {
+    // Set fopen options.
+    $sslVerify = $this->getFlag("sslVerify"); // Don't perform peer validation when true
+    $opts = [
+      "ssl" => [
+        "verify_peer"      => $sslVerify,
+        "verify_peer_name" => $sslVerify
+      ]
+    ];
+
+    // Check if the file exists and is readable.
+    $file = @file_get_contents($file, false, stream_context_create($opts));
+    if($file === false) {
       throw new \Exception("File not found: $file", self::ERR_FILE_NOT_FOUND);
     }
-    fclose($handle);
+
+    // Create image object from string
+    $this->image = imagecreatefromstring($file);
 
     // Get image info
-    $info = @getimagesize($file);
+    $info = @getimagesizefromstring($file);
     if($info === false) {
       throw new \Exception("Invalid image file: $file", self::ERR_INVALID_IMAGE);
     }
     $this->mimeType = $info['mime'];
 
-    // Create image object from file
-    switch($this->mimeType) {
-    case 'image/gif':
-      // Load the gif
-      $gif = imagecreatefromgif($file);
-      if($gif) {
-        // Copy the gif over to a true color image to preserve its transparency. This is a
-        // workaround to prevent imagepalettetruecolor() from borking transparency.
-        $width = imagesx($gif);
-        $height = imagesy($gif);
-        $this->image = imagecreatetruecolor($width, $height);
-        $transparentColor = imagecolorallocatealpha($this->image, 0, 0, 0, 127);
-        imagecolortransparent($this->image, $transparentColor);
-        imagefill($this->image, 0, 0, $transparentColor);
-        imagecopy($this->image, $gif, 0, 0, 0, 0, $width, $height);
-        imagedestroy($gif);
-      }
-      break;
-    case 'image/jpeg':
-      $this->image = imagecreatefromjpeg($file);
-      break;
-    case 'image/png':
-      $this->image = imagecreatefrompng($file);
-      break;
-    case 'image/webp':
-      $this->image = imagecreatefromwebp($file);
-      break;
-    case 'image/bmp':
-    case 'image/x-ms-bmp':
-    case 'image/x-windows-bmp':
-      $this->image = imagecreatefrombmp($file);
-      break;
-    }
     if(!$this->image) {
       throw new \Exception("Unsupported format: " . $this->mimeType, self::ERR_UNSUPPORTED_FORMAT);
     }
 
+    switch($this->mimeType) {
+      case 'image/gif':
+        // Copy the gif over to a true color image to preserve its transparency. This is a
+        // workaround to prevent imagepalettetotruecolor() from borking transparency.
+        $width = imagesx($this->image);
+        $height = imagesx($this->image);
+
+        $gif = imagecreatetruecolor((int) $width, (int) $height);
+        $alpha = imagecolorallocatealpha($gif, 0, 0, 0, 127);
+        imagecolortransparent($gif, $alpha);
+        imagefill($gif, 0, 0, $alpha);
+        
+        imagecopy($this->image, $gif, 0, 0, 0, 0, $width, $height);
+        imagedestroy($gif);
+        break;
+      case 'image/jpeg':
+        // Load exif data from JPEG images
+        if(function_exists('exif_read_data')) {
+          $this->exif = @exif_read_data("data://image/jpeg;base64," . base64_encode($file));
+        }
+        break;
+    }
+
     // Convert pallete images to true color images
     imagepalettetotruecolor($this->image);
 
-    // Load exif data from JPEG images
-    if($this->mimeType === 'image/jpeg' && function_exists('exif_read_data')) {
-      $this->exif = @exif_read_data($file);
-    }
-
     return $this;
   }
 
@@ -194,7 +233,7 @@ class SimpleImage {
    * @return \claviska\SimpleImage
    */
   public function fromNew($width, $height, $color = 'transparent') {
-    $this->image = imagecreatetruecolor($width, $height);
+    $this->image = imagecreatetruecolor((int) $width, (int) $height);
 
     // Use PNG for dynamically created images because it's lossless and supports transparency
     $this->mimeType = 'image/png';
@@ -490,7 +529,7 @@ class SimpleImage {
       imagefilter($srcIm, IMG_FILTER_COLORIZE, 0, 0, 0, 127 * ((100 - $pct) / 100));
     }
 
-    imagecopy($dstIm, $srcIm, $dstX, $dstY, $srcX, $srcY, $srcW, $srcH);
+    imagecopy($dstIm, $srcIm, (int) $dstX, (int) $dstY, (int) $srcX, (int) $srcY, (int) $srcW, (int) $srcH);
 
     return true;
   }
@@ -593,7 +632,7 @@ class SimpleImage {
     // Avoid using native imagecrop() because of a bug with PNG transparency
     $dstW = abs($x2 - $x1);
     $dstH = abs($y2 - $y1);
-    $newImage = imagecreatetruecolor($dstW, $dstH);
+    $newImage = imagecreatetruecolor((int) $dstW, (int) $dstH);
     $transparentColor = imagecolorallocatealpha($newImage, 0, 0, 0, 127);
     imagecolortransparent($newImage, $transparentColor);
     imagefill($newImage, 0, 0, $transparentColor);
@@ -603,10 +642,10 @@ class SimpleImage {
       $newImage,
       $this->image,
       0, 0, min($x1, $x2), min($y1, $y2),
-      $dstW,
-      $dstH,
-      $dstW,
-      $dstH
+      (int) $dstW,
+      (int) $dstH,
+      (int) $dstW,
+      (int) $dstH
     );
 
     // Swap out the new image
@@ -802,7 +841,7 @@ class SimpleImage {
     // We can't use imagescale because it doesn't seem to preserve transparency properly. The
     // workaround is to create a new truecolor image, allocate a transparent color, and copy the
     // image over to it using imagecopyresampled.
-    $newImage = imagecreatetruecolor($width, $height);
+    $newImage = imagecreatetruecolor((int) $width, (int) $height);
     $transparentColor = imagecolorallocatealpha($newImage, 0, 0, 0, 127);
     imagecolortransparent($newImage, $transparentColor);
     imagefill($newImage, 0, 0, $transparentColor);
@@ -810,8 +849,8 @@ class SimpleImage {
       $newImage,
       $this->image,
       0, 0, 0, 0,
-      $width,
-      $height,
+      (int) $width,
+      (int) $height,
       $this->getWidth(),
       $this->getHeight()
     );
@@ -1885,7 +1924,7 @@ class SimpleImage {
       $color['red'],
       $color['green'],
       $color['blue'],
-      127 - ($color['alpha'] * 127)
+      (int) (127 - ($color['alpha'] * 127))
     );
     if($index > -1) {
       // Yes, return this color index