Your website must load fairly quickly to satisfy Google and your visitors.
Part of your Google ranking depends on the speed in which your website loads. And of course, if your site takes forever, most of your visitors will lose patience and be long gone before your site is finally ready to address them.
We want to reduce the size of our graphics without reducing the size of their footprint.
By reducing the size of the graphic file, we reduce the number of subtle nuances in the colour range of the picture. An image with dimensions of 400 by 400 pixels will retain those dimensions on the the screen, but will lose some of its “richness” of tones, shades, contrasts, etc.
The trick is to reduce them all the way to that line right before the point where they no longer appear attractive to the naked eye.
Just like an MP3 music file removes sound areas that the human ear doesn’t really hear anyway, this graphic tool does essentially the same thing. And just as a discerning ear can tell that the MP3 doesn’t have quite the same sparkle as the original, the discerning eye can pick up the differences, IF the images are side by side.
But in a world where people usually only scan through your post, there’s not much to worry about on that score 
Most will only glance at your image anyway, so you have a great deal of latitude to work with.
Introducing GIMP, the Poor Man’s PhotoShop
A great software program I use to reduce file size is called GIMP. GIMP is the GNU Image Manipulation Program, and is a FREE alternative to PhotoShop.
I have used PhotoShop over the years, as well as many free graphics applications for Windows. GIMP produces very professional level results, and I cannot recommend it highly enough.
If you really want to get into GIMP, the book I use and also highly recommend is WARNING, AFFILIATE LINK AHEAD! the GIMP Bible
GIMP is powerful and complex, and when I first started to use it I spun around in circles for a bit. This book cut right to the chase and I was able to quickly utilize the full range of features.
But you don’t need the book to follow the simple instructions in this Tutorial.
Compare the Results of Reducing Graphic Resolution
First we will compare 3 images at 100% resolution, 75% and 50%. Then we will go step-by-step with GIMP to see how it’s accomplished.
Here is the full size 100% Resolution, 455 x 502 pixels at 226,803 bytes file size.
Image at 100% Resolution – File Size 226,803 bytes
The second image is at 75% Resolution, but only 60,515 pixels—1/3 the size of the original.
Image at 75% Resolution – File Size 60,515 bytes
Now we have reduced the Resolution to 50% of the original and the file size is almost 6 times smaller at only 38,412 bytes.
Image at 50% Resolution - File Size 38,412 bytes
You may or may not be able to see any difference between the images. If you do, I’m sure you agree it’s barely perceptible. And if you only saw the last image at 50% Resolution, all by itself, you would never know there was anything amiss.
Obviously you could continue to crank down the size. Just for fun, let’s try a 15% Resolution. This will bring our file size down to 14,000 bytes!
As you can see below, the quality of the image has noticeably decayed, Some parts are so obvious, especially in the clouds, that it has now become a distraction.
Image at a tiny 15% Resolution - File Size 14,536 bytes
What About Smush It?
If you read the comments below, several people suggested I try Smush It, from Yahoo. So I took my same 100% image and gave it up to be Smushed, and here are the results.
As you can see, I only saved about 5,000 Bytes, rather than the dramatic savings with GIMP.
Smush It Barely Even Smushed It
How to Reduce Image File Size with GIMP
Now let’s take a look at GIMP and walk through the process of downsizing our image Resolution.
Once your graphic is loaded, you use the Menu to Save As. At the lower left corner you see, Select File Type. Click it and scroll down to JPEG image.
Click Select File Type and Choose JPEG
Be sure to change the name of the file, and click your curser to the very end of the file name, after the .jpg.
When you push the SAVE button, a little box pops up that allows you to slide the Quality setting lower. You can also type in a value.
Click the Save button in the little box and you have now saved your new graphic image to any file size you desire.
MENU: File / Save As / Quality
Reducing your graphic file Resolution/File Size should be standard practice for everything you do.
Just how far you are willing to push to the limits depends on your needs and the image you are working with. Feel free to experiment.
Do you have any Questions about any of this?
Leave me a Comment or Question in the Box below 
Rick,
My sister and partner is the Photoshope person so I am lucky there. She has made me aware of just how important this is.
I hear raves about Gimp. When learning anything a good guide is most helpful. It sure saves a lot of time.
I was wondering if you have tried the Smush It plugin for wordpress? Does it work on the same principle?
Sheila Atwood recently posted..77 Best Practices for Landing Pages That Rise Above Status Quo
I have not tried Smush, (that’s fun to say
) but I have heard of it.
I’ve been using GIMP for this because it works so much better than the other free tools I have tried. And I have too many plungin as it is.
I may try Smush on my test site though, just to see exactly what it does.
One reason I try to use free or very inexpensive at this point is to demonstrate how anyone can do this stuff on a shoestring budget. I have spent a great many dollars learning how to save a few pennies
I plan more tutorials, btw. People have asked for them, and since I used to write software training manuals for classroom training, hopefully I can bring some interesting things to the table.
Thanks for stopping by, Sheila
This is awesome info – thanks so much for sharing. I do a lot with images and certainly don’t want it to slow down the loading of my website. Off to get GIMP now
Julie Weishaar recently posted..Are You Using The Power of Video to Promote Your Brand
Hi Julie,
I’m gratified I could be of service
And thanks for the Tweet!
Hello Rick,
Very useful article, Google Search Engine added one new crytheria for better indexing into Google rankings, “site’s speed”, if the site is slow – the rating is low, if the site is loading fast – the rating is very good. I always used ‘smushit’ (it’a website) for optimizing my images, but also – this program is great and I’m looking forward to installing and using it too. Thank you very much for sharing it !
Best regards,
Maria
Maria Pavel recently posted..CNA Training Program – Finding The Right One
You’re the second person to mention Smush It, so I definitely must check it out.
Overall though, for me, when I find something that works really well, I stick with it until I happen upon something that works even better. I’m certainly open to experimenting, so we’ll just have to see what comes up next
Thanks for popping by!
Hi Rick,
Have to try GIMP.
It’s not just you who never use Smush, also me. I also didn’t know about GIMP. I am a big fan of Photoshop.
Thank you for sharing.
Rose recently posted..“Luncheon Of The Boating Party” Famous Painting by Pierre-Auguste Renoir
If you already have PhotoShop there really isn’t any reason to fool with GIMP. But for those who don’t have PhotoShop, GIMP is incredibly useful.
Thanks for popping by
Hey Rick, spot on man
Another great resource, even after optimizing the images is to use Yahoo’s SmushIt.
Even on the last image, it was able to save 2.05% on the image size. The great thing about SmushIt is that it doesn’t reduce the quality of the image at all – it just removes the “fluff” in the image coding.
I actually went back recently to do that for my job’s website – I ended up reducing about 30% of image load off our front page and cut down overall page load by about .02s.
I know this doesn’t sound much but that’s on a high speed connection, that could easily become half a second on dial up (which there’s still a ton of people using).
Great tips man – I guess there’s no reason to finish my “optimize your images” post anymore haha.
Murlu recently posted..How to Explode your Influence by Tapping into Niche Communities
As I understand all of the graphic size reducers, it’s the “fluff” they go after. For GIMP to reduce Resolution by 50% and bring file size down to 1/6 of the original, yet maintain virtually all of the visual appeal — That is a LOT of fluff removed.
Pretty amazing, to me anyway.
I didn’t appreciate that so many were still using dial-up. I booted my old laptop with build-in modem yesterday. It was painful. I don’t see how anyone can seriously maintain an online business with dial-up. Although I have a 20Mb cable connection, over the last month I’ve been using my 1.3 Mb DSL backup. I wanted to get a real feel for the speed much/most of the country experiences.
Thanks for stopping by
Has anybody mentioned Smushit yet? LOL J/K I read the edit.
Anyhow, some really good info. I knew you can save a lot by reducing resolution but I guess I never realized how much. I guess that is the reason i am lazy and do not always do it. I will be from here on out though. Thanks!
Steve@Internet Lifestyle recently posted..Social Media Dominance- One Tool to Rule them All
Smush It? Is that something new?!?!?
I have too much I’m trying to do already, that loading a complex software program that eats more resources and then fooling around with the process — is not my idea of fun. But the 5 minutes or so I invest in it pays off big for years to come — especially as the site grows, so I need to quit my bellyaching about it
I used to use IrfanView for the real quick and dirty stuff, but I have been backing away from that and spending the extra time with GIMP because the quality does make a difference.
Bite the bullet, Steve, you won’t regret it
What uuuuup Rick?
Dude, I never really think about how pictures affect my load time. Thanks for raising the issue. Its also great to read something fresh that other bloggers anrent talking about. Having GIMP seems to be the way forward. Would this work the same for videos?
Hey Ryan,
GIMP is for stills only. But I for videos I think the smallest you can get them is the MP4 format. I’m not sure if you can reduce the resolution like you can with an MP3, as I have never seen any software that does it.
All do my vids with Camtasia, and always save & upload in MP4, which I believe is something like 1/3 the size of an FLV.
There are probably free or inexpensive software apps that convert to MP4.
Thanks for stopping by!
Hi Rick
I have heard of GIMP but of course I don’t attempt anything remotely techie lol My niece has photoshop so that is a relief as so far she has done my graphics. We use SmushIt to put them on my site. That was what was recommended by my blogging coach and who was I to argue about something I know nothing about
And I did know graphics slow down a site. Must have been told that by a techie when I first started.
Love the tutorial and may at some point have to learn all this…yikes I hope not! Especially as in about a month or so will have to sort my own graphics. Trying not to think about that for the moment.
Can tell by the quality of the post that you have taught before. Really clear instructions and I’m sure there will be those who will go implement what you have suggested here. Looking forward to what else you are going to teach us. Thanks Rick. Appreciated.
Patricia Perth Australia
Patricia@lavenderoils recently posted..A Gardener’s Guide to Growing a Business
PhotoShop should be able to do everything in this tutorial. But it’s been so long since I used it I don’t know where it would be.
If the graphics are small to start, like little product pictures for a store and are under 5K each, I usually don’t stress out about them. If I was REALLY anal retentive about it, I’m sure I’d be diligently tweaking each and every one…
Thanks for the thumbs up on this. I have more practical graphics tutorials coming. But I probably won’t get into PC repair on this site anytime soon
Hi Rick!
I’ve been wanting to use GIMP for a while now, but haven’t switched because I just couldn’t find any material comprehensive enough to help make that transition. Plus, I’d been using Photoshop since v6.o. =)
But with my desktop making the trip to the great Gig in the sky, I find myself with no money and no photo editing program, and a dinky netbook I use as my lifeboat. Time to give GIMP a try!
Thanks for the help!
Delena
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I’m sorry to hear about the demise of your beloved companion
I used PhotoShop a long time ago, but have been away from the game for so long I lost my disks.
One thing that I recall made PhotoShop cool was all the plugins I was using. But GIMP has quite a few features, and the price can’t be beat
Thanks for stopping by on your cute little netbook!
I use IrfanView to reduce the image file size which is simpler for me. Yeah, I also use GIMP but I only use it to create an image/graphic not to reduce file size.
Dana recently posted..Apple iPad 2- The Credit Cards Replacement
IrfanView is great for a lot of the easy things I do.
But it doesn’t handle .png very well. As I recall I had to use GIMP because the .png size was very large when saved with IrfanView, and the .png transparencies don’t work well at all, which is what got me using GIMP more and more.
Thanks for your input, Dana.
I used to have a linux machine with Gimp on it, and this program did the job very well. I am looking at your image samples and I’m getting to think it does a better job than Photoshop! I will try the Gimp for windows, for a change.
Aloys Jacobs recently posted..Symptoms of Yeast Infection In Men
Hi Aloys,
I have not tried the 2 side by side, but GIMP does a much better job than any of the other graphics apps I’ve been using, hands down.
Thanks for stopping by
Rick, I bet most of us use a commercial software package of some sort to do image work, but hey, there’s good freeware out there and especially these open source products are good stuff. At the least, it’s good to keep in mind they’re out there, and they do deserve a try 100%
Aloys Jacobs recently posted..Symptoms of Yeast Infection In Men
I certainly don’t mind paying for something that will give me tremendous value. I used to use PhotoShop daily.
But that was a long time ago, and so far GIMP has done whatever I need for it to do. When I hit the wall I will probably spring for the Premium stuff again.
Very useful tutorial, I checked you blog and its loading pretty fast, way faster the other blog I read.
Total loading time:3.9 seconds So your doing something right.
Anyways thanks for the information, its most welcomed, I was looking for a way to make my blog faster…
Ali Mujtaba recently posted..Symptoms Of Tinnitus
Thanks, Ali.
I still have work to do to get some of the older pics reduced. It’s interesting that you clocked me.
In some circles I have read that 4 seconds was way too long, lol, but I’m sorry, I don’t believe that many people would get impatient and leave simply because they refuse to wait that extra second
Thanks for stopping by.
Rick,
This is an awesome tool and I had no idea how to use it. I use a ton of pics on my blog and this will help immensely.
Thanks
Steve Roy recently posted..Show Me The Money
I’m glad this was useful.
I will be highlighting this tool some more in the future in some other tutorials I have in mind.
Thanks for stopping by
Hi Rick,
I’ve tried Gimp but I’ve found the user interface totally counter intuitive that I’ve never learnt how to use it. However, I use Paint. Net with is another free alternative to Photoshop for my most of my photo work because it’s light weight. I would use Photoshop for effects and slicing psd web designs.
About smushit the plugin, I’ve experienced Smushit damaging photos so it ended up losing me more time to fix those photo. So, to me, it’s better to manually resize your pictures than to smushit.
Ben Wan
Ben Wan recently posted..How to Get the Maximum out of Facebook Comments Plugin
You are right about the difficulty figuring out how to use GIMP. That’s why I ended up buying a book.
At first I thought I had simply been away from PhotoShop too long. But no, I think GIMP has a different mind set, if you will.
But once I got a book, everything became very straight forward, and I think it’s a great tool that renders graphics very well. I’m extremely pleased with the quality of the output.
Is Smush It a website and a plugin? I have only been to the website.
Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to comment.
[...] How to Make Your Graphics Load 6 Times Faster – by Rick LaPoint, internetmarketing.ricklapoint.com [...]
Rick,
I’m luck enough to own a copy of Photoshop but I have recommended Gimp to clients before. The learning curve is somewhat steep. I’ll bookmark this post and in the future, I can refer clients here. If they’re interested in grabbing a copy of the GIMP Bible, I hope they buy it from you.
Sherryl Perry recently posted..How Google Analytics Introduced Me to Social Media Today
I used PhotoShop years ago. You’re right about GIMP learning curve. At first I could make no sense of it. PhotoShop, as I recall years ago, was complicated but more intuitive. Although I had a couple books for that too.
Thank you for any referral
Hi Rick,
I’ve used Photoshop for a while and more recently, I was introduced to IrfanView. I like them both and I’m going to check out GIMP as well. I’ll use which ever is easier for my needs at the time. I’m beginning to sound technical, like I know what I’m doing. It’s scary!
Thanks for the info.
Cheers
Bryan
Bryan Evans recently posted..My First Post- The Infinite Possibilities of Imagination
I use InfranView a lot, because it loads fast and is simple to use. But I have found that the file sizes tend to be bigger, it has problems with .png transparency, and doesn’t reduce file size so well.
If you already have PhotoShop, there really isn’t any reason to go through the learning curve for GIMP. Unless you simply want the challenge of learning something new
Thanks for stopping by.
Hi Rick,
Just 2 things to say – brilliant and thank you!
Cheers
Tony
Tony Hastings recently posted..Top 10 Reasons Why I LOVE Winter!
Well, then, Thank you, and you’re welcome!
Thanks for the Thumbs Up, Tony.
Just a quick thank you, I was looking for something to do exactly this, i do use Gimp already for simple stuff just hadnt realised it could do this as well, I have dropped from 2.5mb to 150k on the images I was tring to use on my current project, excellent post, keep them coming
Regards
Will
Will Rendle recently posted..5 steps to data backup and disaster recovery
Hi Will,
That’s an impressive improvement! I haven’t tried anything that big yet.
Thank you for sharing
Hi Rick
Useful article with lucid explanation. Though heard about Smush It, haven’t used, your article has inspired me to use it!!
Best Regards
Lakshmi
Lakshmi Muralikrishnan recently posted..GotoMeeting Promo Code
Hey Rick,
Have been using SmushIt for some time now. Heard of GIMP, although haven’t tried it out yet. Think I may now give it a shot. Especially since I use a lot of images and optimizing them always helps.
Thanks so much!
Michele Welch recently posted..Online Business Tips- Picks & Resources- 2-11-11
I didn’t realize so many people were using Smush It. Maybe I had never heard of it before because I was doing it with software for a long time. This new fangled web stuff just goes right by me if I am not looking for a web solution.
Your next 100+ page ebook might benefit from this. When did you say the next one is scheduled for release, again?
Probably will be announcing the next one mid- to late March. It’s a lot of work, so I expect I will only be able to do it quarterly.
Although the next one, I plan on capping it at 20 submission.
I can see how this software can help, however, how do images affect speed on an pdf? I’ve always thought it had most an impact on live sites, where queries are being called to databases. That’s why if they are not optimize it can take a long time. Am I correct in saying this??? Never thought about it until now.
Michele Welch recently posted..Online Business Tips- Picks & Resources- 2-11-11
The .pdf was 7-8 mb. You had 31 articles with at least 2 graphics in each one, so if you can reduce the size of 60 or so files by 2/3, that should decrease the overall .pdf file size for a faster download of the document.
Was the ROI of your time really there? Maybe stretch it out to 6 months instead of quarterly.
It was a great ebook! I hope to make it in again
It was really difficult to measure as the pdf was hosted on other servers, not just mine. I know I did get quite a bit of visits from it. As well, other participants had remarked how people came over to their site and remarked on it.
I think it will be hard to decide on whether it’s worthwhile just yet, will have to see over course of time; maybe after 3-4 publications.
But I think you’re right, every 4-6 months, as oppose to every 3 may be a more practical option. We’ll see.
Michele Welch recently posted..Online Business Tips- Picks & Resources- 2-11-11
Thanks Rick,this was a real eye opener for me. I have Photoshop but being a lazy so and so, I don’t always use it to reduce my image size.
Your comparisms between 100% images and 50% was fascinating, and I shall now make sure my file sizes are reduced in Photoshop before uploading to my blog. Got to keep our mate Google happy.
Anyone without Photoshop should give your recommendation a trial. Fast loading times are vital for successful websites.
John
Leamington Spa, England
John McNally@Blogging for Pleasure and Profit recently posted..Google & Alexa TRAFFIC Update
When I’m dealing with images that have small print that needs to be readable, I’m more careful with reducing, although I have found I can “sharpen” them after to fix that problem, pretty much.
My Twitter background was almost 500K but I was able to reduce it to under 95K and keep the print clean and sharp without the “sharpening” feature.
I was pretty bad about images in the past because I was in a hurry, but it’s a good investment in time, so I do it all the time now.
Thanks for stopping by!
Hi Rick
I’m an Adobe Fireworks man, easy to use and really gets those graphics file sizes down.
Did try Photoshop but the learning curve is more like a brick wall.
Soon gave up on Photoshop.
Always hear good things about Gimp – must give it a try sometime.
Thanks for an interesting and well explained tutorial.
Keith Davis recently posted..Great Speeches in Films
I have not tried Fireworks. It did take me some time to learn PhotoShop, but that was so long ago I would probably have to start over.
Having said that, when I first sat down with GIMP I was lost. I was looking for what I remembered from PhotoShop. OY, I wasn’t sure if I simply didn’t remember, or if everything was simply very different.
Good to see you here, Keith. Thanks for stopping by.
No problem Rick.
Looks as though you have built up a great community here.
Good to be part of it.
Keith Davis recently posted..Great Speeches in Films
@Rick: Though I don’t use GIMP to edit my images, I liked the tutorial and the article:) I use Fireworks and it works great for me, but most of the work I do with images is resizing them, nothing too complicated actually.
Maria
Maria Pavel recently posted..CNA Training In Alabama
Thanks for the Thumbs Up on my tutorial, Maria.
I have never tried Fireworks, so went for a look-see
It’s an interesting program.
Thanks for stopping by
Hi Rick this is Sachin. I visited first time to your site. And I found the things what I was looking for. I will try this Gimp … but I am as a new to blogging I never knew that I have to reduce the image size. So with this I will start my image size to be reduced.
Thanks for waking me up.
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Hi Sachin, welcome to my corner of the world
GIMP can help you do all kinds of cool things.
Thanks for stopping by!
With regards to speed – usually a slow site (slow enough to be penalised by Google, anyway) is more down to bad hosting than large images. A slow server will be slow, no matter how little data it is accessing.
The main problem I see with large images is if a large image (in terms of dimensions, rather than file size) is shrunk down by adding a width and height tag or via css, rather than by shrinking the image itself to the right size for the page, then it can easily look stretched or pixellated as most browsers do not shrink images on-the-fly very well.
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That’s very true. And there are always glitches somewhere along the route your data is taking.
Although there are things that can be out of your control, it’s always good practice to do what can in the areas you DO control.
I agree, never use HTML sizing that only makes your images appear smaller. Take the extra time to do the sizing correctly.
Thanks for stopping by Richard.
Great article
If you’re using a mac you can check out image optim
http://imageoptim.pornel.net/
It’s a free application that checks between 3-4 algorithms and find outs what one is the best to compress each one of your images.
Amazing tool and great timesaver!
Cheers
Angel recently posted..Organize your life with Evernote
Hi Angel,
Thanks for stopping by!
Way long ago I used a Mac at work every day. At the time, the PC was still struggling with Windows 3.0, which was pretty primitive compared to the exceptional capabilities of the Mac.
Since I haven’t used it for years, I appreciate you letting us know about a great tool
Great post, Rick, thanks for sharing. I’m bookmarking this one. I don’t typically have problems with my blog loading, but I’ll be moving it to a self-serve platform and will be adding plug-ins, so I will definitely keep smush-ing pic’s in mind for the future — ☺
Sherry Zander recently posted..SPAM Ba-Bam!
Welcome to my little corner of the world, Sherry
Making your images doesn’t take much additional time, but it’s certainly worth it to people with slower connections.
Thanks for stopping by!
Hi Rick,
My daughter is using Gimp for photo editing and she loves it.
I have a watered down version of Photoshop that came with my laptop but I never think to downsize image files. I should start doing that.
On my blog the Smushit plugin does reduce file size but not enough to impact page load speed. I tried a couple of caching plugins (WP Super Cache and WP Total Cache) but they are giving me some problems that I need help with.
What I would really like to find is a premium caching plugin for WordPress. I can’t seem to find one though. Let me know if you see one OK?
Thanks for the post Rick, have a nice weekend!
Ileane recently posted..April Announcements on Basic Blog Tips
Hi Ileane,
I have heard from several now that SmushIt doesn’t do much of a Smush.
I think you will be very pleased at the results when reducing file size. It’s definitely worth the effort.
Thanks for stopping by
Its often clear to most of the people that multimedia content takes time to load, and hence your bounce rate can go pretty high because of it if you take the test of patience of your visitors. Hence, smushing can really be a great aid in maintaining the image content over websites.
Adam Gardner recently posted..Victorian Furniture History
If we keep our sites too heavy taking years to load, it will naturally annoy our visitors. Apart from that, we want to keep it good looking also. And, here we have got the solution to bell the cat.
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Hi Rick,
I bet Gimp is great, but if you can afford Photoshop, it can do wonders for your photos. Truth is i use it for my work, else i would not have payed so much money just to optimize my blog photos, but i recently experimented with some black and white .png optimization setting and i managed to get pictures 10 times smaller with no visible quality loss.
On colored pics it’s better to go for .jpg, but i haven’t tested my skills there yet.
Antonia recently posted..The Hypnotic Connection
I’m having that problem with loading recently. I understand and I think you knew too how disturbing and unsatisfying it is to wait while it’s loading. If only I could do something just to make it faster. By the way, thanks for this very informative post.
Antonia recently posted..Signal Recognitions Systems and Their Importance
At 15% resolution I finally noticed a difference. But to be fair, the other ones seemed to me (or to my eye) virtually the same stuff.
All in all its a great way to speed up your website but it also time consuming, how much time did you waste before getting an picture to that point?
Cristian Balau recently posted..Google has started to filter out footer links?
Speeding up your site is great. But time is also very important i hope that someday there will be a software that can easily be downloaded and not time consuming. Thanks for your very informative information.
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