Compress Image

How do I compress an image online?

Press Choose pictures, or drop or paste files, and leave Compress by on Target file size. Enter a size such as 100 KB, or press one of the preset buttons, then press Compress and Download. The tool finds the best quality that fits under the number. One picture arrives as a single file and several as a ZIP.

1. Press Choose pictures, drop files on the page, or paste a copied picture with Ctrl+V.
2. Enter the size under Make each file smaller than, or press 50, 100, 200 or 500 KB. Or switch Compress by to Quality setting and pick a number.
3. Leave Format on keeping each picture's format, or pick JPG or WebP, which shrink best.
4. Press Compress, then Download. The result list shows each picture before and after, the quality used and a difference score.

To change the pixel size yourself, for example to exactly 1200 pixels wide, use Resize Image. To make a PDF smaller instead, use Compress PDF. To switch formats, use the Image Converter.

How do I compress an image to 100 KB or 50 KB?

Enter 100 or 50 as the target in KB and press Compress. The tool saves the picture at quality 95, then 40, then searches between them for the highest quality that fits. If quality 40 is still too big, it shrinks the pixels in 1 percent steps until the file fits. Both steps run on your device.

Up to 200 KB the full 1280 x 854 pixels stayed (200 KB needed JPG quality 59). Below that, quality alone ran out: JPG quality 40 was still about 153 KB, so 100 KB took the pixels down to 1075 x 717 and 50 KB to 730 x 487. Each search took 9 to 10 test saves. If you would rather keep the original dimensions and accept a bigger file, turn off the pixel reduction box; the tool then stops at quality 40 and says it could not reach the target.

Should I reduce the pixel size or the file size?

Change whichever the form asks for. A pixel limit means width and height, so use the resizer. A size limit in KB or MB means bytes, so use this page. Bytes depend on both pixel count and quality, which is why the target search can lower either one.

The web.dev guide to choosing the correct level of compression says finding the best setting means weighing format, content, quality and pixel dimensions together, which is the search this tool automates. In our test, the 100 KB result kept 84 percent of the original width and height, and the 50 KB result kept 57 percent. A picture that is already small in pixels, such as a 400 pixel thumbnail, has little left to give: its file was 32 KB at quality 80. For a particular pixel size first, see Resize Image.

Is JPG or WebP better for a smaller file?

WebP, at the same quality number. In our test, quality 80 gave 265 KB as WebP and 298 KB as JPG, 11 percent smaller, with less error. JPG still opens in every program and upload form, so pick it when the file must work everywhere. Use WebP for web pages.

Quality numbers from different formats are not equal measures, so the table shows size and error side by side. At the 100 KB target, WebP kept 1114 x 743 pixels where JPG kept 1075 x 717. Google's WebP page reports lossy WebP files 25 to 34 percent smaller than comparable JPEGs at equivalent quality, and our figures at the same quality number showed smaller gaps, from 1 to 17 percent depending on the setting. Quality numbers do not mean the same thing in two encoders, so compare sizes at similar error instead. The catch is reach: some older programs and forms still reject WebP, and the WebP to JPG page covers the way back. The Google WebP overview has the full comparison.

How much quality will I lose when I compress an image?

It depends on the setting. High qualities change pixels so little that the eye does not notice, and quality 40 shows soft detail and blocky edges. Each result row shows a difference score and a plain label, from Not visible to Clearly visible, measured against your original, so you see the cost before you download.

The score is the average change per color channel (0 is identical, 255 the most possible) between your original and the result on a 512 pixel preview. It is labeled Not visible under 1.5, Hard to see under 3, Visible up close under 6 and Clearly visible above that. The preview averages some compression noise away, so the score is a guide and not a verdict; always look at the picture beside the original in the result panel. In our grainy test photo, JPG error was 2.02 at quality 95 and 7.43 at quality 40, so the lowest setting added about 5.4 more levels of error while the file fell from 556 KB to 153 KB.

Can I compress a PNG image?

Only a little through this tool, and only by shrinking the pixels. PNG is lossless, so it has no quality setting to lower, and this tool does not reduce its colors. Converting the picture to JPG or WebP usually gives a far smaller file when the picture is a photo.

Our flat-color chart was 36.9 KB as a PNG and 28.2 KB as a quality 75 JPG, so even a flat graphic shrank slightly as JPG, at the price of soft edges around text. With a 20 KB target, the PNG search had to reduce the chart to 870 x 581 pixels (68 percent) to reach 19.9 KB. If the picture has transparency you need to keep, choose WebP in the Format menu: it keeps see-through areas and compresses far better than PNG for photos, and Google reports lossless WebP 26 percent smaller than PNG. A tool that cuts a PNG's colors to 256 can shrink it more, but it changes the colors; this one does not.

Does compressing an image remove its metadata?

Yes, for every file the tool re-saves. The browser draws the picture on a canvas and writes a new file, so the location, camera model and time stored in the original's EXIF block are not copied. The camera turn is applied first, so the picture stays upright. A file already under your target is left unchanged, with its metadata.

The result list marks any file that was left alone. If you need the location removed from a file that was already small enough, set the target a little lower, or use Resize Image, which always re-saves. Color profiles are not kept: the result uses the browser's standard screen colors.