15 Apps to Help You Compress Images Without Losing Quality

t’s a known fact that search engines place great importance on how fast is your website. That’s why webmasters work hard on optimizing the process of reducing the page size. The process includes multiple factors, but among most important are:

• image optimization
• creating cache for pages
• minimizing css

if you are using WordPress than you should check the optimizing process…

Today we will talk about image compression which can improve the page loading time a lot.

Online Apps

The online apps are very practical because they don’t require you to install anything on your computer so no space is needed. You only need a image and the process will be executed on the website.

1. JPEG Mini

This is an incredible easy to use and comprehensive tool for minimizing the size of your photo. With JPEG Mini you can reduce image sizes up to 5x and manage to keep the same appearance.

2. Smush.it

A service created by Yahoo! specialists to reduce unnecessary bytes from pictures. The service is “lossless” which means the pictures look the same just they are smaller in size.

3. Web Resizer

The name says it all! Web resizer is the ultimate tool to help you optimize images for web use. The tool provides comprehensive technologies which can help you reduce even 62% of the image size keeping the same quality.

4. Image Optimizer by Dynamic Drive

Dynamic Drive is the perfect place where to get advanced JavaScripts, DHTML and tons of great tutorials, but they are also good when it comes to optimizing multimedia for web. The Image Optimizer does a great resizing process in no time.

5. PunyPNG

PNG Files are always the tricky ones because even small and simple images have quite large sizes. PunyPNG will help you keep the great images, but in a smaller file size.

6. GIF Bot

Online application which allows you to reduce the file size of any photo and optimize them for web uses. You can either choose a file from PC or from a URL.

Desktop Apps

These are more complex apps which you have to download first. Some of these apps are available for Windows users and there are also some for Mac users too.

7. ImComp

Is a great image compression tool created by MATLAB and hosted on Google Code. The app is great for compressing images taken with digital cameras or mobile phones.

8. PNG OUT

Is a basic Windows application which was created to optimize PNG files created using other programs. Their website comes with a tutorial to help you manage it.

9. RIOT

Or Radical Image Optimization Tool is a software application available for free use. The app helps you visually adjust the image compression.

10. ImageOptim

Probably the best image compression tool available for Mac users. It comes with an easy to use GUI and it supports GIFs (animated too), JPEGs and PNGs.

11. SuperGIF

The producers say that SuperGIF is the fastest image optimization tool out there…and to be honest it really seems to be fast. There is a free version which you can use for how many pictures you want, but one image at a time.

12. TweakPNG

Extremely simple yet powerful tool for examining and optimizing PNG files. TweakPNG has just 450kb so is very small and it really manages to do it’s job.

13. JPG Cleaner

Like the name says, JPG cleaner is used to clear unused data from JPEG files. Sometimes programs like Photoshop or Adobe Fireworks are writing unnecessary data into photo files, data which is not needed for displaying the picture correctly. JPG Cleaner removes all that that living the photo simple and clean.

WordPress Plugins

I know that many of you have WordPress as content management system and that’s why these plugins will make things much more easier or even automatize the process of image compression.

14. JPG Image Quality

Sometimes is annoying for you to compress images to another level so that you will reduce the file size. This plugin sets the image quality at 90% of the current quality by default, but you can choose any value between 1 to 100.

15. WP Smush.it