Image Too Large? 3 Ways to Compress Images Losslessly
Whether you are a web developer, a blogger, or just trying to upload a photo to a government portal, we have all faced the error: "File size exceeds limit."
High-resolution cameras today take photos that are 5MB to 10MB in size. However, the web requires efficiency. Here are three proven methods to reduce image size without making your photos look blurry or pixelated.
Method 1: Resize the Resolution (Most Effective)
The biggest reason for large file size is unnecessary pixels. An iPhone photo might be 4000 pixels wide, but a typical website only displays images at 800 to 1200 pixels wide.
The Fix: Resize the image dimensions. Reducing the width from 4000px to 2000px cuts the total pixel count by 75%. This massively reduces file size before you even apply compression.
You can use our Free Online Image Resizer to do this instantly.
Method 2: Convert to WebP
If you are still using PNG or JPG for the web, you are living in the past. WebP is a modern image format developed by Google specifically for the internet.
- WebP images are 26% smaller than PNGs.
- WebP images are 25-34% smaller than JPEGs.
- They support transparency and animation.
Converting your library to WebP is the smartest move for SEO and page load speed.
Method 3: Smart Lossy Compression
Tools like TinyPNG or our own compressor use "smart lossy compression." They reduce the number of colors in an image selectively.
Because the human eye is not very sensitive to subtle color changes, these algorithms can strip out metadata and merge similar colors. The result is a file that is 70% smaller but looks identical to the naked eye.
Best Practice Workflow
For the ultimate results, combine all three methods:
- Resize the image to the maximum width you need (e.g., 1920px).
- Convert it to WebP format.
- Compress it with a quality setting of 80-85%.
This workflow often turns a 10MB raw photo into a crisp 150KB web-ready image.