Reducing image file size without reducing quality using Yahoo! Smush.it

Last updated on January 9, 2012. Tags: , , , , , , ,

Images are one of the most essential components of the web. Even though certain type of webpage can survive purely on text, images can definitely enhance them either as part of the web template (e.g., head banner) or as figure/diagram to accompany the content.

One of the problems as far as images are concerned is its file size. Some images can be large such that it takes several seconds or even minutes before they are fully uploaded. This is not much of a problem now due to increasing use of broadband connections as oppose to dial-up. However, this does not change the fact that between two similar images that can serve the same purpose, the one with lower file-size is definitely better because they load much quicker and uses smaller amount of cache memory.

In my new line of work as an e-learning specialist, the boss instructed me that basic animations/presentations should not exceed 1 MB in file size. I developed a presentation that uses images, html and Javascript with the images taking-up most of the file size. To make my work easier, I searched for a tool that will allow me to reduce file-size of images in bulk. From all the available tools, both web-based and for-download, I picked-up Smush.it.

You can access Yahoo! Smush.it here.

How to use Smush.it

Using Smush.it is very easy. Simply follow the steps below:

  1. Click the "Uploader" tab.
  2. Click the button "Select Files and Smush".
  3. A window containing a selection of your files will open. However, it will display only JPG, GIF and PNG files.
    • You can select the files you want to reduce in size by holding the control key (CTRL) and clicking the files one-by-one
    • or you can drag the mouse-pointer across the icons to highlight them
  4. Click the "Open" button.
  5. Watch as the web page shows which images are being compressed, which will end with a message of how much KB has been "saved" (that is, amount reduced from the original file size) or the status "No Saving", which means Smush.it could not reduce the file size.
  6. Save the "smushed" image (images with reduced file size) in your computer:
    • Click "Download Smushed Images" to download all the image files you reduced as zip file.
    • Right-click the image from the list below and choose "Save as" to download them one-by-one.

It's apparently possible to replace steps 1-4 above by clicking the tab "URL" instead of "Uploader" to reduce the file size of images that are already online. However, it's apparently not working when I tried it. I just keep on getting "Smushing..." status that never ends.

Limitations

Smush.it has the following limitations which I obtained from its FAQ page and learned from using it myself.

  • Supports only GIF, PNG and JPG, which is ok since these three are the most widely used image files in the web and supported by all browsers.
  • Converts GIF to PNG in cases wherein the PNG format will result to smaller size.
  • Can reduce file size of images that are only 1 MB or lower. This is apparently not a problem because images that are more than 1 MB are usually those with pixel dimension too large to be embedded directly on a web page.
  • Can reduce animated GIF and still retains its animation. However, reducing animated PNG causes it to lose its animation.
  • You cannot reduce the file size of an image that already went through  Smush.it.
Smush.it runs using Flash technology. As of today, i still haven't tested if it can run in iPad (which does not support Flash) through some alternative means of accessing it.

Conclusion

The Smush.it is indeed very useful. In my experience, it can reduce the file size up to 28% of the original. Some may consider the kilobyte it removes to be too small, but in the web, anything that can reduce file-size without reducing image quality is definitely useful. Its capability for multiple file selection and download-as-zip-file makes working with several image files much faster.

Unfortunately, according to Smush.it terms and condition, Yahoo reserves the rights to stop providing it for free and charge for its service in the future. I hope the higher-ups of Yahoo will not consider charging its user for its service and instead, consider using advertisement to support Smush.it, just like what they do in Yahoo Mail.

Posted by Greten on January 9, 2012 under Webmasters' Tools

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