How to Reduce Image File Size for the Web

Three levers control image weight: format, dimensions and compression. In that order, they typically beat any single clever trick.

Choose the format by content: JPEG for photos, PNG for graphics with sharp edges or transparency, WebP or AVIF when browser support allows (both beat JPEG at equal quality), and SVG for logos and icons.

Serve the dimensions you display. A 4000 px photo shown at 800 px wastes roughly 25× the bytes. Resize first, then compress — compression works far better on correctly sized images.

For placeholders and mockups, skip bytes entirely: the RovoTools SVG Placeholder Generator creates tiny resolution-independent placeholders as data URLs, generated locally with your exact size, colors and label.

Finally, strip metadata (camera EXIF data adds kilobytes and can leak location), prefer progressive JPEG for large hero images, and always compare before/after at 100 percent zoom before shipping.