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15 Free Image Compression and Optimization Tools

Posted on by in Web Tools

US.net habits conducted a research that showed people tend to leave a page and click elsewhere if a page takes more than one second to load. A leading retail marketer, Amazon, calculated that it loses 1.6 billion in sales per year because of a mere one second page load slowdown.

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Amazon has paid the price of a slowdown in an incident that took place some time ago. The presence of CSS files, images, video, Javascript files etc can result in your site taking more time to load. This is why there is a need for an image optimizing tool. Below find a list of exclusive apps that are very effective in terms of image optimization.

Image compressor tools have now become essential due to their ability to edit, compress and resize images without much trouble. A number of image formats are supported by these tools, for example PND, JPEG, GIF and they can resize the images in order to meet your requirements. With their use, web applications and websites are loaded faster.

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Here is a compilation of the best image compressors that help resize images that are of various formats on your websites and thereby deliver a better user experience for the website visitors. These tools are responsible for compressing the images of the website. These tools also save bandwidth and improve the performance of the site.

Here is a list of the best image compression and optimization tools:

1. Tiny PNG

tiny-png

This tool gives you advanced compression for PNG images while preserving full alpha transparency and reducing the file size by selectively cutting the number of colors and bytes that are in the image.

The effect of this tool is rather invisible although it is making a huge difference when it comes to file size because it is compressing a 24 bit PNG files and converting it to an 8 bit indexed color image that removes all the unnecessary metadata.

2. Compressor.io

Compressor.io is one of the most preferred image size optimization tools and the reason behind it being one of the most preferred image size optimization tools is that it gives you the ability to choose between lossless(same picture quality) compression and lousy (picture quality reduction). However, lossless compression is limited to PNG and JPEG images while the file savings are much smaller.

compressor-io

The option of choosing between lousy and lossless compression is not offered by any other tools, therefore if you are interested in using both lousy and lossless compression than simply opt to use compressor.io. However, you do not get bulk upload images and the there is a restriction of 10MB on the single file sizes.

3. PNG Gauntlet

Optimizing PNG files is a lot easier with PNG Gauntlet. The program is available for Windows and caters to bringing together PNGOUT, DeflOpt and OptiPNG. This program is extremely useful when it comes to creating the smallest files without affecting the image quality.

The program helps in converting GIF, JPG, BMP and TIFF files to PNG, while giving individual progress bars to every file. The file that is getting compressed is highlighted and a status bar appears that is meant to keep a track of the total bytes saved.

4. Trimage

Trimage is a cross-platform tool that enables you to optimize JPG and PNG files with the use of PNGCrush, OptiPNG, JPEGOptim or AdvPNG. Trimage losslessly compresses on the highest available levels of compression, while removing EXIF and other metadata. Trimage enables you to download for a number of platforms such as Mac OS X, Linux and Windows.

5. ImageOptim

ImageOptim optimizes images by finding the best compression parameters and removing unnecessary color profiles and comments. This tool is very useful in handling JPEG, PNG and GIF formats.

The program can be easily used; all you have to do is drag and drop images or folders into the windows and then they can be optimized in-place. ImageOptim has a dock icon and it is easy to drop files onto it; it uses the Service menu ion Finder (on Macs) and is launched from a shell script.

6. JPEG Optimizer

JPEG Optimizer is a free online tool that helps resize and compress your photo and images such that the bandwidth is reduced and then you can use the images on blogs, emails and forums. All you need to do is to download the image that you have to optimize, select a compression level (from 0-99, with default at 65), select the needed image width and then click ‘optimize photo.’

7. Shrink O’ Matic

shrink-o-matic-image-optimizer

This application is an Adobe AIR application which helps in resizing and batching images in an easier way while it handles GIFs, JPGs and PNGs. All you have to do is drag and drop the images in order to resize them. You can also customize the setting and select the output sizes, name, rotation, location, watermark and format. This program supports EXIF data which prevents loss of information when the images are processed.

8. Optimizilla

This cool image compression tool allows you to compress JPEG and PNG image files in an easier and quicker way. You can upload up to 20 images at one time as this program allows for bulk compression.

When you compress images, you also get to choose whether you want to download them individually or together in a ZIP archive.

9. JPEG Reducer

JPEG reducer helps in shrinking the size of the images which allows them to load faster; JPEG reducer functions by using lousy compression. However, you may not be able to see the changes that have taken place. All you need to do is to upload your image or enter the image URL and then press “reduce it.” You will be able to view the compressed thumbnails and images and save the image by right-clicking it.

10. Image Optimizer

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This tool is easily available from Dynamic Drive; it allows easy optimization of JPGs, GIFs and PNGs after which images are loaded a lot faster. Using this program it is easier to convert images from one file type to another and it has an upload size limit of 2.86MB. All you need to do is enter the image URL or else upload the image from your computer, select your image conversion, optimizing the image and then downloading the results.

11. Shrink Pictures

Shrink Pictures makes it easier for you to resize pictures as well as to choose the level of compression that will be applied. The format that it supports are JPG, PNG and GIF. This tool makes it easier for you to select the maximum image dimension, to apply special effects and to download the optimized images.

This program gives you privacy as you need to use an automated script that removes any processed images from the server.

12. CompressNow

CompressNow is a free online tool that helps you upload images from your computer and allows you to choose a compression percentage while the optimized image id being downloaded. This program supports formats such as PNG, JPG and GIF while allowing the drag and drop of various images from your computer. It allows a maximum upload of 10 images with a maximum individual file size of 3 MB.

13. Smush.it

This online service that is useful in optimizing your images is offered by Yahoo Developer Network and it employs lossless compression techniques. It reduces the file size without affecting the look or altering the visual quality of the image. The uploader supports GIF, JPEG and PNG files having maximum sizes of 1MB. The optimized result is available for download form a temporary URL that is valid for up to 30 minutes.

14. RIOT

RIOT is a free program that effectively optimizes images for the web. It has an easy-to-use interface that allows you to compare the optimized image with the original image in real time. The resulting file size is instantly available. This program is fast and lightweight. It offers features for advanced users and supports many formats; it features automatic optimization by selecting the most appropriate parameters and format.

15. JPEGMini

JPEG mini is a patent-pending photo compression technology which you can use to reduce photograph sizes without affecting the perceptual quality at all. This technology is applied to the baseline JPEG and results in files that are compatible with any photo software, browser or device supporting the standard JPEG.

Author: Julia Morison

Julia Morison is a head hunter and a research specialist at Researchomatic. She is traveler, a blogger, a techie and social activist. When she not in her office, she spends her time writing and educating the masses.

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