Compress PNG Online Free

How to compress a PNG image

Drop your PNG above and use the quality slider to control the trade-off between file size and sharpness. The before/after sizes are shown in real time. At 80% quality, most PNGs shrink by 50–70% with no visible difference. Nothing is uploaded — compression runs in your browser.

Frequently asked questions

How much can I compress a PNG?

PNG files with many colors (like photographs) can typically be compressed 50–70% without visible quality loss using 80% quality. Screenshots and graphics with large flat-color areas compress even more. The tool shows exact before/after sizes so you can see the reduction.

Does compressing a PNG reduce quality?

At 80–90% quality the difference is invisible to most people. Below 60% you may see color banding in gradients and blurring around sharp edges. The quality slider lets you find the right point for your specific image.

What is the difference between compressing PNG and converting to JPG?

PNG compression here converts the image to JPEG format internally for maximum file size reduction. If you need to keep the output as a PNG (for transparency support), use our PNG maker which keeps lossless PNG encoding. For pure size reduction, JPEG compression achieves the smallest files.

How do I reduce PNG file size without losing transparency?

Standard JPEG compression removes transparency (alpha channel). If your PNG has a transparent background and you need to keep it, use an online PNG optimizer like TinyPNG that preserves transparency. This tool is optimized for maximum compression using JPEG output.

What is the best way to reduce PNG file size for a website?

Compress to 80% quality first, then resize to your actual display dimensions using the image resizer. Serving a 2000px PNG for a 400px slot wastes 25× more bandwidth than needed. Combine both steps for the smallest possible file.

How do I compress multiple PNG files at once?

Drop multiple PNG files onto the tool at once — all will be compressed and available to download individually.

Is there a PNG file size limit?

No limit — compression runs entirely in your browser. For very large files (50MB+) allow a few seconds for processing.

How much can you compress a PNG?

With standard lossless PNG re-compression you can typically reduce file size 10–30%. Using lossy techniques — such as reducing the color depth from 24-bit to 8-bit (256 colors) — you can achieve 50–80% reduction, which is what tools like TinyPNG use. This tool uses JPEG-based compression to achieve the maximum reduction, often 60–80% smaller for photographs at 80% quality. The exact savings depend on image content: photos compress more than flat graphics.

What is the difference between lossy and lossless PNG compression?

Lossless PNG compression rearranges and re-encodes the pixel data more efficiently without changing any pixel values — the image looks 100% identical and can be decompressed back to the exact original. Lossy PNG compression (such as reducing from 24-bit to 8-bit color depth) permanently discards color information to achieve much smaller files. The trade-off: lossless is reversible with no quality change; lossy is irreversible but achieves dramatically smaller files.

How do I compress PNG in Photoshop?

Go to File → Export → Export As → select PNG from the format dropdown → check the "Smaller File" checkbox to enable interlacing and extra compression. For more control, use File → Export → Save for Web (Ctrl+Alt+Shift+S on Windows, Cmd+Alt+Shift+S on Mac) and adjust the PNG-8 vs PNG-24 setting and colors. PNG-8 with 128–256 colors is typically 60–70% smaller than PNG-24 for graphics with limited color ranges.

When should I use PNG instead of JPG?

Use PNG for: logos and graphics with sharp text (JPEG blurs sharp edges), images with a transparent background, screenshots and UI elements with flat colors, and any image you plan to edit and re-save multiple times. Use JPG for: photographs, product photos, and any image where file size matters more than pixel-perfect sharpness. A simple rule: if the image has transparent areas or text, use PNG; for photos, use JPG.

How do I compress a PNG on Mac?

Open the image in Preview, then go to File → Export → select PNG from the Format dropdown. Preview offers a basic quality slider for PNG. For better compression, use this online tool — drop multiple PNG files at once for batch compression. Alternatively, the pngquant command-line tool (installable via Homebrew: brew install pngquant) offers excellent lossy PNG compression with control over color depth.