The X-ray flux of Shanghai synchrotron radiation facility (SSRF), a world-class SR source of the third generation, is about 12 to 16 orders of magnitude higher than X-ray tube flux. SR imaging has properties of high spatial resolution, high contrast resolution and high time resolution. The SR imaging can obtain in-situ, non-destruction, high-resolution, three-dimension and dynamic imaging of samples; moreover, the phase imaging technique can be utilized which can extend its applications to low-Z materials like soft tissue and polymer. Since SSRF was formally opened to users in 2009, it has made significant research results in the fields of biomedical, materials science, paleontology, pedology and so on. In order to further support users′ experiments, the SSRF X-ray imaging group has carried out systematic X-ray imaging methodology researches in quantitative imaging, tomography, fast tomography data processing and so on, which substantially increases the experimental efficiency and sample adaptability. The progress of X-ray imaging methodology and its applications at SSRF are introduced.