Compression is the most impactful image optimization lever — and the most misunderstood. Applied correctly, it reduces image weight by 3 to 6x with no perceptible quality loss. Applied incorrectly, it produces pixelated product images that kill conversion before the customer even reads the description.
Compatible platforms
Which algorithm for which image type?
Product photos (studio) → WebP lossy Q82
Photos with gradients, skin tones and textures benefit most from lossy WebP. Quality 82 delivers 40-50% file size reduction vs JPEG Q80 with no visible artifacts at standard viewing size (retina or non-retina).
Logos and icons → WebP lossless or SVG
Flat-color illustrations and logos with hard edges suffer from lossy compression artifacts. Use WebP lossless (15-30% smaller than PNG) or SVG for vectors. Never JPEG for logos.
Packshots (product on white) → WebP lossy Q80-85
White-background packshots have large uniform areas that compress very efficiently. A 2 MB JPEG packshot becomes 180-300 KB in WebP Q82 — a 7-10x reduction with no perceptible quality change.
| Format | Typical weight (product photo) | Quality | Best use case |
|---|---|---|---|
| JPEG Q80 | 800 KB - 2 MB | Good | Fallback for old browsers |
| JPEG Q95 | 2 MB - 5 MB | Excellent | Original archive only |
| PNG | 1 MB - 8 MB | Perfect | Logos, screenshots |
| WebP lossy Q82 | 200 KB - 500 KB | Very good | All product photos |
| WebP lossless | 400 KB - 1.5 MB | Perfect | Logos, flat-color illustrations |
| AVIF Q80 | 150 KB - 350 KB | Very good | Hero images (Safari 16+) |
Never compress twice. Saving a JPEG as WebP then re-saving the WebP as JPEG introduces double compression artifacts exponentially. Always compress from the original high-quality source. Seegea stores the pre-compression original and applies compression only once.
Bulk compression with Seegea
Compressing 5,000 product images one by one in Photoshop is not a viable workflow. The alternatives:
- CLI tools: cwebp (Google), Sharp (Node.js), ImageMagick. Fast but require technical setup and ongoing maintenance.
- Photoshop batch actions: workable up to 500 images, not scalable beyond.
- Seegea: select products in the grid, set compression parameters (quality, format, dimensions), click Apply. The optimized images replace the originals in Shopify or PrestaShop immediately. Rollback available if the result is unsatisfactory.
Built in France between Annecy and Chantilly, Seegea has applied bulk compression to over 500,000 product images across Shopify and PrestaShop stores — with an average LCP improvement of 1.8 seconds per page.
Compress your catalog images with Seegea
30-min Google Meet · free audit and live compression demo
Created in France (Annecy – Chantilly) · Email & Google Meet support
FAQ
Lossy compression (JPEG, WebP lossy) removes image data permanently to reduce file size. Quality is slightly reduced but files are 5-10x smaller. Lossless compression (PNG, WebP lossless) reduces file size by 15-30% without any quality loss, by removing redundant data. For product photos: always lossy. For logos and illustrations with flat colors: lossless.