Image Compressor

How to compress an image

1. Choose, drop or paste an image: JPEG, PNG, WebP, GIF, BMP, TIFF, SVG, AVIF, HEIC (in Safari) or ICO.
2. Pick a goal: Smaller file to compress at a quality you choose, or Try to keep under to aim for a maximum size such as 200 KB.
3. Optionally change the output format, the quality or the dimensions.
4. Select Compress image, compare the original and compressed versions, and download the result.

Not happy with the result? Change a setting and compress again. Your image stays loaded.

What makes an image file smaller?

Three things decide most of an image's file size:

• Quality. JPEG and WebP are lossy formats: they throw away detail that is hard to see. A lower quality setting throws away more and makes a smaller file. For many photos, settings around 70–85 look very close to the original.
• Dimensions. Halving the width and height leaves a quarter of the pixels, so the file usually shrinks a lot. A photo straight from a phone is often far larger than any screen needs.
• Format. The same picture can be much larger in one format than another. A photo saved as PNG is often several times the size of the same photo as JPEG.

PNG works differently. It is lossless, so every pixel is kept exactly and there is no quality setting to lower. When a picture has 256 colours or fewer, Doodleden^™ saves it as a palette PNG, which is often much smaller with every pixel unchanged. For other PNGs, turn on Reduce colours to keep at most the number of colours you choose: the file gets smaller, but colours can change slightly. Smaller dimensions, or converting to WebP or JPEG, also make a PNG smaller.

JPEG vs WebP vs PNG for compression

• JPEG is the most widely accepted format and works well for photos. It cannot store transparency, so transparent areas are filled with a colour you choose.
• WebP often makes smaller files than JPEG at similar quality and can keep transparency. Most current browsers can create WebP files; if yours cannot, the option is unavailable.
• PNG keeps every pixel and handles transparency and sharp graphics such as logos and screenshots well. Pictures with 256 colours or fewer become smaller palette PNGs automatically. Reduce colours shrinks other PNGs by limiting their colours and keeps soft, partly transparent edges; it suits graphics better than photos.

No format is always the smallest. The result panel shows the actual size of each attempt, so you can try more than one and keep the best.

Other formats

• GIF can be kept as GIF. Lowering the number of colours makes it smaller. GIF files are still images here: an animated GIF keeps only its first frame, and Doodleden^™ does not create animation.
• BMP can be kept as BMP, but BMP is not compressed, so only smaller dimensions make it smaller. Converting it to PNG, WebP or JPEG usually saves far more.
• TIFF can be kept as TIFF. Doodleden^™ saves it losslessly with LZW compression, so smaller dimensions or another format make the biggest difference.
• SVG can be kept as SVG. Doodleden^™ removes comments, editor data and extra spaces without changing the drawing. Choosing a raster format draws it at the SVG raster size instead.
• AVIF and HEIC cannot be kept in their own format: no browser can create AVIF or HEIC files, and the encoders that could are large and, for HEIC, covered by patents and copyleft licences. Choose JPEG, WebP or PNG instead. HEIC photos open in Safari 17 or later; other browsers cannot read them.
• ICO icon files open using their largest size. To make a smaller icon file, use the Image Converter or Image Resizer and choose fewer icon sizes.

“Try to keep under” explained

When you enter a maximum file size, Doodleden^™ starts at your chosen quality and lowers it step by step until the JPEG or WebP fits. It never goes above the quality you set, and it does not go below 40 by itself, because lower settings usually look noticeably worse. If you deliberately set the quality below 40, it uses exactly that setting. For GIF, and for PNG with Reduce colours on, it lowers the number of colours instead, never above the number you set and never by itself below 16. A PNG is first tried with every colour kept.

If the image still does not fit, you get the smallest version it made, clearly marked as over the target, with suggestions. Doodleden^™ never shrinks the dimensions without asking, because that changes the picture; turn on Resize image if smaller dimensions are acceptable. If your file is already under the limit and you are not changing its format or size, Doodleden^™ keeps the original file rather than recompressing it.

Only need to fit an upload limit? Reduce Image to KB or MB starts from the limit, needs no quality settings, and can make the dimensions smaller for you when you allow it.

The target is best effort, not an exact size: the file will be at or under it whenever it can be reached.

Private by design

The Image Compressor reads, compresses and saves your image inside your browser. Your selected image is not uploaded to a Doodleden^™ server, and nothing about it is stored.

Files are processed in your browser and are not uploaded to or stored by Doodleden^™. This site is funded by advertising; our ad partners use cookies and similar technologies as described in our privacy policy.

Need exact dimensions, cropping, rotation or an ICO icon file instead? Use the Image Resizer & Converter.