Image Optimizer
compress-image
How can you optimize Images for web performance without Losing Quality
Did you consider optimizing your photos before uploading to WordPress will have a huge impact on the speed of your website?
When making a blog for the first time, many beginners simply upload images without optimizing them for the web. These huge image files make your website less responsive.
You can correct this by employing photo optimization best methods in your daily blogging routine.
In this article, we'll show you how to optimize your photos for better website performance, without sacrificing quality. We will also provide automatic photo optimization applications for WordPress which can make your life easier.
Because this is an extensive guide to image optimization for the web and mobile, we've developed an easy-to-follow table of content:
- What's an image optimization? (optimized images vs. images that aren't optimized)
- Why is image optimization crucial? What are the advantages?
- How to conserve and optimize images for web performance?
- Best image optimization tools and programs
- The best Image optimization plugins for WordPress
What is Image Optimization? (Optimized vs Unoptimized Images)
Image optimization is a technique of saving and sharing images in the smallest possible file size , without compromising the overall quality of the image.
While it may sound like a complex process, it's actually quite easy nowadays. One of the numerous image optimization plugins and tools to automate the compression of images by as much as 80% without any visible reduction in image quality.
Here's an example of optimized images versus unoptimized:
You can observe, when properly optimized, the same image may be 75% smaller than the original without the loss of quality.
What is Image Optimization function?
In simple words simply put, image optimization uses compression technology , such as "Lossy" and "Lossless" which reduces the overall size of the file without causing any loss in quality.
What does it mean to Optimize Images?
If you've ever received a recommendation to optimize images by your WordPress hosting support , or a speed tester tool, what it all means is the need to reduce the file size of your photos by optimizing them to be used on the web.
Why is Image Optimization Important? What are the Benefits of Image Optimization?
While there are many benefits of optimizing images, here are the top ones to be aware of:
- Speedier website loading
- Improvements in SEO rankings
- The higher conversion rate overall for sales and leads
- Less storage and bandwidth (which will reduce hosting and CDN cost)
- Faster backups of websites (also reduces the cost of backup storage)
Beyond video, pictures are the next largest item on a page. According to HTTP archive, images make up around 21% of the total weight of the page.
We know that websites with fast speeds are more popular in search engines (SEO) as well as have better conversions in terms of image optimization is a requirement for each business website has to take care of if they want to succeed online.
Now , you might be wondering how big of a difference does image optimization actually make?
According to an Strangeloop study, a 1 second delay in website loading could result in a loss of 7% or sales. Additionally, it can result in 11 percent fewer pageviews, and a 16% decrease in customer satisfaction.
If this isn't enough of a reason to speed up your website You should be aware that search engines like Google also offer preferential SEO treatment to faster loading websites.
This means that by optimizing your images for the web this can improve the speed of your website and increase WordPress SEO rankings.
Video Tutorial
If you'd prefer written instructions, just keep reading.
How to Save and Optimize Images for Web Performance?
The key to successful image optimization to improve web speed is finding the ideal balance between the smallest file size and acceptable image quality.
The three factors that play a crucial impact on optimization of images are: optimization are:
- Image file format (JPEG vs PNG vs GIF vs tiff )
- Compression (Higher compression = smaller file size)
- Image Dimensions (height and width)
If you select the most appropriate combination of all three, you can decrease your image's size by as much as 80 percent.
Let's look at each of them in more specifics.
- Image File Format
The majority of website owners believe that the only three image formats that really count to consider are JPEG, PNG, and GIF. The selection of the proper file type is crucial in image optimization.
To make things easy It is best to use JPEGs for photos and images with a variety of colors, PNGs for basic images or when you need transparent images, and GIF for animated images only.
For those who aren't sure of what the distinction is between each kind, the PNG format is uncompressed , which means it's a superior quality image. The drawback is that the file sizes are much bigger.
However, JPEG is a compressed format that can reduce image quality in order to provide a significantly smaller size file.
And GIF can only use 256 colors along with lossless compression which makes it the best option in animated image.
On WPBeginner we employ all three image formats , based on the type of image.
2. Compression
The next thing is image compression, which plays a major part when it comes to image optimization.
There are different kinds and levels of image compression that are available. What settings are used for each will differ depending on the compression tool you use.
The majority of image-editing tools like Adobe Photoshop, On1 Photo, GIMP, Affinity Photo and many others have built-in image compression capabilities.
You can also save images normally but then you can use a Web application like TinyPNG and JPEG Mini for easier image compression.
Though it's a little manual These two methods permit you to compress images prior to uploading the images to WordPress, and this is the process we employ on WPBeginner.
There are many other popular WordPress plugins such as Optimole, EWWW Image Optimizer and others that automatically compress images once you upload them. Many newbies, and even larger corporations prefer to use these images optimization plugins because it's easy and simple.
We will share more about these WordPress plugins in the next article.
3. Image Dimensions
Normally, when you download a photograph from your smartphone or digital camera, the image has an extremely high resolution as well as the dimensions of the file are large (height and wide).
The majority of these photos have the resolution of 300 DPI and sizes that range from 2000 pixels and up. These high-quality photos are well-suited to print or desktop publishing. They're not suitable for websites.
Making the file's dimensions less limiting can drastically reduce the size of images. You can easily alter the size of images using an image editor software on your personal computer.
We optimized, for instance, the image with 1.8 Megabytes as its original file size with a 300 DPI resolution, and dimensions of 4900x3200 pixels.
We opted for the Jpeg format to allow larger compression. The dimensions were changed to 1200x795 inches, and it reduced the image's size to 103KB. This is 94% smaller than the size of the original file.
Now that you know the three primary factors that affect image optimization we can take a review the different image optimization tools for owners of websites.
Best ImageOptimization Tools and Programs
As we said earlier, the majority of image editing software comes including image optimization as well as compression options.
In addition to the image editing software, there are many powerful free image optimization tools that you can use to optimize images for web usage (with only few clicks).
We suggest using these tools to optimize images before you upload them to WordPress especially if are one of those people who are always perfect.
This method can help you save memory on the WordPress hosting account, as well as guaranteeing you the fastest images and finest quality because you manually look over every image.
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Photoshop is a premium software with a feature that lets you save images that have been optimized for use on the internet. Just open the image in Photoshop and click on"File> Save For Web "File >> Save for Web" option.
This will open an additional dialog box. On the rightside, you are able to choose various image formats. If you select JPEG format, you will see a variety of options for quality. Once you've selected the options, it will also reveal the file's size in the lower left.
GIMP
GIMP is a no-cost and open source alternative to Adobe Photoshop. It is a tool to optimize your images to be used on the internet. Its disadvantage is that it is not as easy to implement as other solutions on this list.
In the beginning, open your image in GIMP then click the File > Export As option. This will bring up the dialog box for saving your file. Create a new name and click the export button.
It will open image export options. For jpeg files, you can select the compression level to decrease file size. Then, click"Export" button in order to save optimized images.
TinyPNG
TinyPNG is a no-cost web application that employs a clever lossy compression process to decrease the dimensions of PNG files. All you need to do is go to their website and upload your photos (simple drag & drop).
They will compress the image and provide you with a download URL. You can utilize their sister webpage, TinyJPG which is for JPEG compressing images.
They also have one extension that works with Adobe Photoshop that we use in our editing process for images because it brings together the best features of TinyJPG and TinyPNG inside Photoshop.
For developers, they offer an API that allows you to convert images in a way that is automatic, and for newcomers, they have a WordPress plugin that can convert images for you (more on this in the future).
JPEG Mini
JPEGmini employs lossless compression technique that reduces the size of images while not any impact on their perceived quality. It is also possible to compare the quality of your original image and the compressed image.
You can download their web version for free and then purchase the software for your computer. They also have a pay API that allows you to automate the process to your servers.
ImageOptim
ImageOptim is an Mac application that allows you to compress images without sacrificing any quality. It does this by finding the best compression parameters , and taking out unnecessary color profiles.
Windows Alternative to this Trimage.
Best Image Optimization Plugins for WordPress
We believe that the best way to improve the quality of your images is by doing it before uploading them to WordPress. However, if you manage a multi-author site or need an automated solution, you can try a WordPress image compression plugin.
Below is a list of the top WordPress compressors of images.
- Optimole is a well-known plugin created by the company behind ThemeIsle.
- EWWW Image Optimizer
- Compress JPEG and PNG images using the plugin developed by the TinyPNG team that is mentioned earlier in the article.
- Imagify - a plugin from the well-known WP Rocket plugin team.
- ShortPixel Image Optimizer
- WP Smush
- reSmush.it
Utilizing one from these WordPress image optimization plugins can help you speed up the performance of your website.
Final Thoughts and Best Practices for Image Optimization
If you aren't saving images that are optimized for the web, then you should start doing it now. It'll make a significant difference in speed and your visitors will appreciate it.
Furthermore, faster websites are ideal for SEO, and you will likely see an increase in your ranking on search engines.
Make use of this tool: convert to png
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