ConvertUp / Guides / How to Make a PNG File Smaller
How to Make a PNG File Smaller
PNG is lossless, so it can only shrink so much. The biggest savings come from saving the image as WebP or JPG instead, or from reducing its width. Keep PNG only if you need transparency or perfectly sharp edges.
Why PNG files are large
PNG remembers every pixel exactly. That is great for logos and screenshots, but a photo saved as PNG can be five times the size of the same photo as a JPG. A small test logo went from 3.3 KB to 3.3 KB when only re-saved as PNG: there was nothing left to remove.
Option 1: switch format
If the image has no transparent parts, set the output to JPG. If you need transparency and the site accepts it, choose WebP. In the compress tool both are available in the Output menu. Photos saved as PNG often shrink by half or more this way.
Option 2: reduce the width
Large screenshots and exports are often much bigger than they are displayed. Set a max width of 1920 or 1280 px. Fewer pixels means a smaller file, and PNG responds well to this.
When to leave it as PNG
- The image has a transparent background you need to keep.
- It has sharp text or thin lines, such as a screenshot of a spreadsheet.
- You will edit it again later.
Heads up on transparency
Choosing JPG turns transparent areas white, because JPG has no transparency. Preview the result before using it.