Image Compression
Lossy vs Lossless Compression: What's the Difference?
Lossy vs lossless image compression explained with real examples: how much smaller files get, what you lose, and which to use for photos or graphics.
· 8 min read
Image Compression
Making image files smaller without ruining them: how lossy and lossless compression work, how to hit an exact size such as 50 KB or 100 KB, and the fastest way to shrink photos on an iPhone, Android phone, Mac or Windows PC. Figures quoted here come from files we compressed ourselves.
Image Compression
How to Reduce Image File Size Without Losing Quality
Seven proven ways to shrink image files: resize dimensions, pick the right format, tune quality and strip metadata, with before/after file sizes.
· 9 min read
Image Compression: quick guide
Two things make an image file smaller: fewer pixels and stronger compression. Resizing a 4,000-pixel phone photo to the size it will actually be shown at usually saves the most; lowering JPG or WebP quality a little does the rest, often without a visible difference.
When a form states a limit such as 50 KB or 100 KB, use a target-size tool rather than guessing settings, and remember that some sites count 1 KB as 1,000 bytes and others as 1,024. PNG is lossless, so it can only shrink by reducing colours or pixels.
Free tools used in these guides
Everything runs in your browser except the uploader, and nothing needs an account.
- Image to URL: upload a picture and get a direct link, HTML, BBCode or Markdown, with location data removed.
- Image compressor: make JPG, PNG and WebP files smaller in your browser, or hit a size such as 100 KB.
- Resize image: set an exact size like 1080 × 1080, a width or a percentage.
- HEIC to JPG: convert iPhone photos so they open everywhere.
- Remove EXIF: see and strip GPS location, camera and date from photos.
- Image to Base64: turn small images into data URIs for HTML and CSS.