If the JPG image’s file size is too big, you can shrink or reduce the JPG file size in Windows 10 without reducing quality. Here is how.
When it comes to image formats, JPG or JPEG is one of the most common ones out there. In fact, almost every photo you take will be in JPG format. Not only photos but other images you find in various sources like on the web will also be in the JPG format. A few of the reasons for being this popular are its built-in lossy compression technology, ability to show over 16 million colors, support for higher resolution, and lower file size compared to its peers.
In general, the size of a JPG file is completely dependent on the camera, its resolution, and the scene you are trying to capture. The higher the resolution and the complex the scene is, the bigger will be the JPG file size. For the most part, this is not a problem. However, if you are trying to back up the photos or send them via email attachment, the bigger file size can be an issue. In those cases, you can compress the JPG file without reducing its quality too much or resizing its dimensions. That way, you will get the best of both worlds. i.e, reduced file size with just as much quality.
In this quick and simple Windows 10 guide, let me show how to reduce JPG file size in Windows 10 without minimizing the image quality.
Did you know that both JPG and JPEG file formats are the same? Long back, Microsoft required extensions to be three characters long. So the JPG extension was born.
Reduce JPG file size in Windows 10
To reduce JPG file size without resizing or minimizing its quality, you have to use specialized image compression software. The good thing is, there are plenty of free image compression software for Windows that work wonders. In this specific case, we are going to use a free and lightweight tool called Caesium Image Compressor. The software itself is pretty easy to use and has all the essential features you will ever need.
1. First, get Caesium Image Compressor from this web page. If you want to, you can download the portable version rather than the regular installer. In case you don’t know, a portable version lets you use the application without installing it. If you have downloaded the portable version, extract the folder in the zip file to your desktop.
2. Open the Caesium Image Compressor application using the desktop shortcut. If you have downloaded the portable version, open the extracted folder and double-click on the Caesium.exe file.
3. Click on the “File -> Add pictures” option in the application window.
4. Select all the JPG images you want to compress or reduce file size and click “Open.” In my case, I’m selecting two JPG files. You can select any number of files.
5. In the application window, set the image quality to “80” under “Compression options.” As a general rule of thumb, setting image quality between 80% to 90% gives a good balance between file size and image quality. In case you are wondering, the lower the quality setting is, the lesser will be the file size. Next, select the “Same for all” checkbox and choose “JPG” from the “Format” dropdown menu.
6. Select the “Same folder as input” checkbox under the “Output” section. After that, make sure “_compressed” is added in the “Suffix” field in the same section. To choose some other output folder to save compressed JPG files, uncheck the “Same folder as input,” click on the “Browse” button and select the folder of your choice.
7. Finally, click on the “Compress” button.
8. As soon as you click the button, the program will compress the images to reduce JPG file size. Once that is done, you will see an alert message letting you know the same. The application helpfully shows the old and new file sizes in the main window. In my case, the JPG file size is reduced by 36%.
9. Since the output folder is same as the input folder, you will find the compressed images along side the source images. The compressed images will have “_compressed” at the end of their file name.
That is all. It is that simple to reduce JPG file size in Windows 10.
If you are stuck or need some help, comment below and I will try to help as much as possible.
