How do you choose the right image compression software?

Selecting the appropriate image compression software hinges on understanding the specific requirements and intended use of the images. Tailoring the choice to the purpose at hand is paramount. For instance, if the goal is to produce high-quality prints for fine art photography, collaborating with a professional printer often suggests using TIFF (Tagged Image File Format) for its lossless compression, preserving image integrity and detail. Conversely, when sharing images digitally or via email with clients for previews or online display, JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) becomes a popular choice due to its versatility and compatibility across different platforms.

When selecting image compression software, consider the following factors to find the right fit for your needs: Image Types Supported: Ensure the tool supports the file formats you commonly work with (e.g., JPEG, PNG, TIFF).?Some tools specialize in specific formats, so choose accordingly Compression Quality: Look for software that allows you to adjust the compression level while maintaining image quality.?Balancing file size reduction with visual clarity is crucial

First of all, as photographer you DON'T choose your compression software, but your image processing software. If you work with Lightroom, Photoshop or anything else, compression is built in it already. You just choose the image *format* and *level* of compression. If you plan to further process your image with another software, lossless compression (or none at all) it is. And don't forget about the colour depth (bits per pixel) - use format that keeps all the bits. For the final image, use lossy, because the difference in file size is huge, while the quality doesn't suffer that much, as long as you don't go overboard with compression level or choose to de- and re-compress again multiple times. No dilemma at all.

Choosing the right compression depends on the end usage for the photo. The first step is to mode in which you shoot and save the image in camera. You should always, and I can't say this enough, shoot in RAW format. You can choose lossless or lossy compression in RAW and still have great amount of detail but the best would be to shoot RAW with lossless compression in 14-bit colour. The amount of detail one can get in this is incredible. If you are going to do make large prints or for commercial usage then edit RAW files and convert to TiFF format. If for web or email sharing, JPEGis good although WebP is taking over slowly on most good website. You get good compression while maintaining detail.

There are a variety of tools out there now. A couple that were referred to me were TinyPng and TinyJPG. You should have an idea what you're compressing for. ie, for a full width web-blog or banner or smaller portfolio images in a carousel.

Choosing the right compression depends on the end usage for the photo. The first step is the mode in which you shoot and save the image in camera. You should always, and I can't say this enough, shoot in RAW format. You can choose lossless or lossy compression in RAW and still have great amount of detail but the best would be to shoot RAW with lossless compression in 14-bit colour. The amount of detail one can get in this is incredible. If you are going to do make large prints or for commercial usage then edit RAW files and convert to TiFF format. If for web or email sharing, JPEGis good although WebP is taking over slowly on most good website. You get good compression while maintaining detail.