Orpheus

Compress an Image

Smaller file, same dimensions.

Every tool runs entirely in your browser. Your files are never uploaded to a server.

Compression re-encodes the image at a lower quality setting, discarding detail the eye is least sensitive to. The pixel dimensions stay the same; only the file size falls.

How to use Image Compressor

  1. Add your images. Drag them in or click to browse. A mixed batch is fine.
  2. Choose how hard to squeeze. Balanced suits almost everything; Maximum is for a hard upload limit.
  3. Download. The saving is shown per file so you can see what each setting cost.

About compressing images

Compressing an image means re-encoding it with the encoder instructed to work harder, discarding detail in the places human vision is least able to notice. JPEG and WebP both do this by transforming blocks of pixels into frequency components and storing the high-frequency ones — fine detail and sharp edges — with less precision. It works well on photographs, where detail is irregular, and badly on flat colour and text, where the discarded information is exactly what made the edge crisp. The quality slider is not a percentage of anything meaningful. It is a parameter fed to the encoder, and the relationship between it and file size is steeply non-linear: dropping from 100 to 90 often halves the file with no visible change, while dropping from 60 to 50 saves relatively little and is clearly visible. Somewhere between 75 and 85 is where most images sit comfortably, which is why it is the default here and almost everywhere else. Two things are worth knowing before compressing. Loss is permanent and compounds — an image compressed, saved, and compressed again carries the damage from both passes, which is why a photo forwarded through several messaging apps degrades visibly. And dimensions almost always matter more than quality: a 4000-pixel photograph displayed in a 800-pixel column is carrying twenty-five times the pixels it needs, and resizing it saves more than any encoder setting can.

Frequently asked questions

Does compressing reduce the image dimensions?
No, not by default. The width and height are unchanged and only the encoding quality drops. There is a separate option to cap the longest edge if you want both, and resizing saves considerably more than any quality setting.
How much smaller will my file get?
Typically 40 to 70% at the balanced setting for a photograph, and much less for an image that was already heavily compressed. Re-compressing an already-compressed JPG gains little and costs quality, because the damage from the first pass is now part of the image.
Will compressing a PNG help?
Only a little, and possibly not at all. PNG is lossless, so there is no quality dial — the saving comes from re-encoding alone. If the image is a photograph, converting it to JPG or WebP will save far more than any amount of PNG optimisation.
Is the quality loss permanent?
Yes. Lossy compression discards information and it cannot be recovered, so keep the original if the image matters. Compressing the same file repeatedly compounds the damage, which is why a photo re-shared through several apps eventually looks visibly degraded.
Should I switch to WebP?
For anything on a website, usually yes — it is typically 25 to 35% smaller than JPG at the same visual quality and is supported by every current browser. For a file someone will open on their desktop or attach to an email, JPG remains the safer choice.

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