Guide
Compress photos without losing visible quality
September 2026 · 5 min read
Compression is a trade-off between file size and image quality. The good news: there is a wide zone where the file shrinks dramatically but your eye cannot tell the difference. The skill is finding that zone.
1. Why “lossy” is not a dirty word
JPEG and WebP are lossy — they discard data. But human vision is forgiving: we notice color shifts and banding, but we barely notice high-frequency detail being smoothed. A well-tuned lossy file can be a tenth the size of the original and look identical on screen.
2. The 75–85 sweet spot
For most photos, quality between 75 and 85 is where the magic happens. Below 70 you start to see blocky artifacts; above 90 you are paying in file size for detail no one can see. Start at 80.
3. Resize before you compress
Quality settings matter most at full resolution. If the image is larger than it needs to be displayed, resize first — a smaller image at the same quality is a much smaller file and looks just as good on screen.
4. Compare side by side
Compress, then flip between the original and the result. If you cannot tell them apart at the size you will actually use, you have found the sweet spot. If you can, nudge the quality up a little.