Heavy file sizes of images burden the page of your website or email and make it load longer. Therefore, your site visitor or mail recipient moves elsewhere before the page fully loads. Large images may also be difficult to post online and take up too much space on a device, among other problems.
Seemingly a detail, images are one of the most crucial aspects of a successful web business, online store, or blog site. With them, your website becomes more emotionally appealing, which may also result in better SERP results. That’s why reducing image file size is another thing you shall learn.
In this article, we will walk you through how to compress images using an online compressor, as well as how to do that manually on Windows and macOS devices. You will also learn what the best sizes of the images for the websites are and how image compression may benefit you.
Are you a Shopify store owner? Use TinyIMG app to resize and optimize your images
Try TinyIMG app for freeWhat is image compression?
Image compression is a process applied to visuals file in order to reduce its size in bytes without noticeably impacting the quality of the image. Minimizing the image size file may help your website and emails load faster. Moreso, uploading and posting pictures online gets easier, as the image size will fit the requirements of the site. Finally, you get more storage space on your device.
There are two types of image compression – lossy (JPEG) and lossless (PNG). The first compresses your image by removing unnecessary data from the image file and notably reducing the image size. However, the quality of the image also gets worsen.
On the contrary, the lossless compression type doesn’t remove image file data nor affects the quality of the image. Nevertheless, the image file size stays nearly untouched. Meaning, it may not help in boosting your page’s loading speed or saving up some storage space. This compression type is rather for those who need image quality over website performance and other aspects.
All in all, you can reduce image size without losing quality. But for that, you must choose the right compression type and also reduce image size correctly.
1. Reduce image size using an online compressor
Reducing image size with the help of an online compressor can help you improve your website performance effortlessly in no time. Luckily, there are many online tools you could use to reduce image file sizes. One of them is TinyIMG.
Besides an online compressing tool, it also offers an app that can help you to optimize and rank your Shopify store in Google. For instance, this TinyIMG app automatically generates ALT tags and titles for the images.
To reduce image file size with TinyIMG online image compressor, take a look at the suggested steps below:
1. Open TinyIMG image compressor on your web browser.
2. Drag and drop the PNG files that you want to reduce in size. But keep in mind, the max size of each file cannot be more than 3MB.
3. Download the image once the compression is complete.
4. For the sake of interest, you will be told about the difference in the file size of the original and the reduced image.
That's it - this is a very simple take for compressing your images; it won't take you much of your precious time nor impact the quality of the image.
Apart TinyIMG, some of the best tools are Crush Pics and Minifer. Both tools have been praised for their ability to compress images at ease and their ability to support one’s SEO pursuits. However, their limitation is that both provide the best functions such as a large storage option or all-in-all SEO optimization only if you choose a paid subscription.
While on the other hand, TinyIMG can offer these features for free. That’s what makes it so awesome and a must on your bucket list.
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2. How to reduce photo file size on Windows
There are two ways you can reduce image file size if you use Windows-supported devices. This guide will lead you through the pathways of Microsoft Picture Manager or Microsoft Office.
Microsoft Photos appr solution
This app is accessible on any Windows PC. It can assist you in resizing your images and minimizing their file sizes. Just follow these 4 steps below:
1. Choose the image you wish to compress and double-click on it..
2. With the right-click, open the list of functions and choose Resize image..
3. Here, you can reduce the size of the image and / or quality level. Keep the quality above 80%.
4. Click OK. Name and save the compressed image.
Microsoft Word app solution
The Microsoft Word is another way of reducing photo file size on any Windows OS. This platform can help you compress an image easily, but you may lose a pixel or two.
1. In your Microsoft Word program, choose the image or images that you wish to compress.
2. In the Picture Tools section, on the Picture Format tab, in the Adjust group, select Compress Pictures.
3. To reduce the file size of selected images only, select the Apply only to this picture check box.
4. In the Resolution section, select the resolution that you want and hit OK.
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3. How to reduce photo file size on Mac
For those using macOS-supported devices, you may use the macOS Preview app or the Microsoft Office application. Follow the steps below for the method you wish to apply:
Preview app solution
This application comes with every macOS laptop and computer. With it, you can reduce an image’s file size within 3 simple steps:
1. In the Preview app on your macOS device, open the photo you want to compress.
2. Select Tools and Adjust Size.
3. Click Resample image and enter a smaller value in the Resolution field.
You can also reduce the file size for multiple images simultaneously by displaying the pictures on the same window, selecting them in that window’s sidebar, and applying the second step from the guide above.
Microsoft Word app solution
To reduce the image file size on Mac and minimize its dimension, you can also use the Microsoft Word and compress the desired picture. Learn how to do that by following these simple steps below:
1. To compress individual images, hold SHIFT (not needed if the compression needs to be applied for all the pictures in the document), select the images you wish to compress, and then hit Compress Pictures on the Picture Format section.
2. Choose the desired option in the Picture Quality section. The highest resolution is listed first, while the lowest resolution is listed last.
Click Selected pictures only or All pictures in this file.
Reducing image file size: which way to go?
You may minimize the image file size in several effective ways. And yet, each of them makes you sacrifice something, it can be picture file data, pixels, and others. But for some, losing image file data means nothing if they receive a lighter picture file size and a maintained good quality in for exchange.
To help you out, we will review each method for reducing the image file size below:
- Image compression. This process is about minimizing the image file size in bytes by squeezing the image until it has the needed size to make it take up less space while retaining the same physical size. This way, the image files become lighter, resulting in better page-load speeds. Yet, when you compress an image, sometimes the quality of the image can decline and you may also lose some part of the file’s data.
- Resizing image dimensions. Resizing the dimensions of your chosen image is a relatively simple option. It can ensure that your image quality remains to the needed requirements. However, the negative side of it is that it may be harder to ensure that the image file itself doesn’t pop up too big,c onsequently rigging the speed of your website.
- Selecting the correct picture format. Each type of file format can perform better depending on what image you’re working with. There are 2 main image formats dominating the web. It’s PNG (used for logos, illustrations, icons, and solid shapes) and JPEG (the image file to use for photographs). PNG format is great if your focus is on high quality over file size. Differently from the latter, JPEG reduces image file size but also affects image quality. If both these options don’t seem like a fit, you may also try the new-gen WebP image format. It includes loss and lossy compression types to minimize the image file to up to 34%. Yet, it might be tough to find the app for editing it, and less advanced browsers don’t support it.
- Cropping the image. Cropping the image can help you reduce the picture file size. Yet, the quality may also get worse, as cropping the image makes the pixel dimensions and resolution integrate more pixels per inch. The best way to crop the image in order to reduce the picture file size is to use Photoshop application, as it tries to maintain the original image resolution.
If you're on Shopify, you can install an image resizer to make the process quicker
Benefits of image compression
Image compression is a form of reducing image file size without damaging its quality. It means delivering the best possible quality pictures while maintaining the lowest file size.
Image compression offers various benefits, and some of them are:
- Saves storage. Image compression can reduce the image size by whole 50%. It means the optimized images will carry at least 50% less space. This way, you can improve your device’s performance as well as lower the website bandwidth or server costs.
- Boosted page-load speed. More than half of the web page’s weight consists of images, and for this reason, you would opt for image optimization. If the images are kept at the right size, either your website or emails will load faster.
- Easier upload to socials, websites, and email. Even Gmail itself allows you to send only up to 25 MB in attachments per single message, making it difficult to send all the needed image files to the recipient. The limitations apply to numerous other platforms too. Compressing your picture file size will help you send a bigger amount of desired images without affecting their quality.
- Helps in boosting the website’s SEO ranking. Image optimization can be a decisive weapon to improve your rank in search engines. A search engine ranks the websites that load faster. Also, optimizing your images can help you improve core web vitals (CVW) metrics. Meaning it can enhance your position in the search engine regarding the fastness of content load, responsiveness to a user's input, and its stability.
The takeaway
Nowadays it's possible to reduce the size of almost every file type. You can compress PPT presentations, PDFs and even videos. But the most popular request stays the same: to reduce image file size.
In our guide, we suggested some ways to resize and compress your images effectively and time-savingly. The methods help you maintain high quality or minimize the image file size or even both.
One of the top online tools you could employ to reduce the file size of the image is TinyIMG. That’s it due to the item’s effectiveness, functionality and easy-to-use interface.
Curious to read more? Check out these articles:
- Top sites with quality stock photos for commercial use
- Image ALT text optimization for Shopify stores
- Best TinyPNG alternatives for image optimization
Frequently asked questions
Reducing the MB size of a photo can be done in several ways. You can compress the image, without having to resize it. Also, you can resize your photo by reducing the pixels it takes. To do so, use your computer's image editing tools, as well as online platforms on the internet.
You can reduce a JPG file size with TinyIMG. Upload the photos that you want to compress into the online file, and start compressing it. When it's done, click Download so you can get a compressed version of your photo.
The recommended file size for website images is no more than 200 KB. For full-screen background images, focus on 1500 pixels but no more than 2500 pixel-wide. And for the rest, it's better to stick to a width of 800 pixels. Keeping your images within these frames will guarantee they load instantaneously.
