How to compress photos for a website without losing quality
Heavy images are the top reason sites feel slow. Here is which format and quality to choose so photos weigh 3–5 times less.
Heavy images are the most common reason a website loads slowly, especially on phones. The good news: most photos can be made several times smaller without anyone noticing.
Pick the right format
- JPG — for photos. Compresses well but has no transparency.
- PNG — for logos, diagrams and images with a transparent background. Photos saved as PNG are very large.
- WebP — the modern format for websites. Usually 25–35% lighter than JPG and supports transparency.
Choose the quality
For websites and social media 65–80% quality is usually enough. The difference is barely visible, but the file gets much lighter. Compare the result with the original side by side; if you see no difference, go lower.
Reduce the pixel size
Phone photos are often 4000 pixels wide, while a website shows them at 1200. Resizing to the size you need gives the biggest saving.
Do it in a minute
- Open the Image Compressor.
- Drop your photos, pick WebP and about 75% quality.
- Optionally set a maximum width, for example 1600 px.
- Download the result.
Photos are never uploaded: everything happens in your browser.
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