Compress images for the web

A lighter image is one of the few changes that makes a page feel faster without touching the layout. The trap is trusting a slider label instead of the file you are about to upload. Cretivkit is built around the second number: the size of the blob the browser just encoded.

Start from the picture you actually have

Photos from a camera are usually JPEG. Interface icons, screenshots, and images with transparency are usually PNG. WebP can carry either kind of image, but only if the browser you are using can encode it. GIF on Cretivkit becomes one still frame, which is useful for a preview and wrong for an animation you need to keep.

HEIC from a recent phone is not decoded here. Export a JPEG from the photo app first. That limitation is stated in the tool rather than hidden behind a failed download.

Pick a format before chasing a percentage

• Use JPEG for photographs when you do not need transparency. A quality around 75–85 is a sensible first look.
• Keep PNG when you need a flat color, a sharp UI capture, or transparency and the file is already small.
• Try WebP when you want the photo or the graphic to weigh less and your publishing target accepts it.

If a PNG re-encode grows, that is normal. Browser PNG export does not reproduce the specialized compressors used by design tools. Switch formats instead of lowering a control that the PNG encoder ignores.

Use a size target only when you have a real budget

A form that rejects files over 200 KB is a real budget. The preset searches encoder quality and may scale the image down, stopping at half the working dimensions and at a quality floor. If the result is still over the line, the message tells you the smallest file produced. Download that file only if it looks acceptable, or crop it first.

Check the picture at the size readers will see

Zoom to 100% and look at edges, text, and faces. A file that is 70% smaller and slightly soft can be the right trade. A file that is larger than the original is not a win, and the interface will not call it one. The new file also drops camera metadata, including location, which is usually what you want before publishing.

When the preview and the measured size agree, download. Then put that file on the page. Do not upload the original by habit.