How to Compress Images Without Losing Quality
Images are usually the heaviest part of a web page. Large files slow down loading, hurt mobile visitors on slow connections and can drag down your Core Web Vitals. The good news is that most images can shrink by half or more with no change you would notice.
1. Resize before you compress
A 4000-pixel-wide photo shown in a 800-pixel column wastes bandwidth. Resize it to the largest size it will actually be displayed at. Our Image Resizer does this in one step and keeps the proportions.
2. Choose the right format
- JPG suits photographs.
- PNG suits graphics with sharp edges, text or transparency.
- WebP is supported by all modern browsers and is typically a quarter to a third smaller than JPG at similar quality.
- AVIF can be smaller still, but encodes more slowly and is best for current browsers.
3. Pick a sensible quality level
Lossy formats trade a little detail for a much smaller file. For most photos, a quality of 70 to 80 looks almost identical to the original. Go lower only if you compare the result and are happy with it. Our Image Compressor shows before and after sizes so you can judge.
4. Remove metadata
Photos carry hidden data such as camera model and GPS location. Stripping it saves a few kilobytes and protects your privacy. The compressor removes it automatically.
5. Finish with good HTML habits
Add descriptive alt text, set width and height attributes to avoid layout shift, and use loading="lazy" for images below the first screen.
A simple workflow
- Resize to the display width (or 2x for sharp screens).
- Convert to WebP at quality 75.
- Check the result at full size.
- Upload and test your page speed.