Why photos are so large
A modern phone photo can be 3 to 8 MB and 4000 pixels wide, far more than any screen needs. Cutting the size does not have to look worse on screen.
The three levers
- Dimensions: 1600 to 2000 pixels on the long side is plenty for email and most websites. Resize first.
- Quality: JPEG at 70 to 80 percent saves a lot with little visible change.
- Format: WebP is smaller than JPG at the same quality, and JPG is better than PNG for photos.
Steps
- Open Compress Image and add your photos.
- Choose a quality level or a target size in KB.
- Download and compare the result at full size.
Exact sizes for forms
Some forms demand a size such as under 100 KB. Use Compress Image to KB to hit it directly.
iPhone photos
If your photo is in HEIC format, convert it to JPG first because many sites reject HEIC.
Tips for websites
Large images slow a page down and hurt search rankings. Use the exact size the picture is shown at, not much larger, and prefer WebP or JPG. A hero image under 200 KB and thumbnails under 50 KB keep pages fast, even on mobile data.
Mistakes to avoid
- Compressing a screenshot of text as JPG, which blurs it. Use PNG for text and logos.
- Saving the same JPG over and over, which lowers quality each time.
- Making photos smaller than they will be displayed, which looks fuzzy.
- Sending 20 full-size photos by email instead of resizing them first.