Compress an image to 200 KB
The 200 KB target is preset. A photo keeps its detail at this size when the width is right; the lever that matters here is pixels, not the quality number.
Your images
Settings
Generated images
- Nothing uploaded
- Free, no sign-up
- Strips EXIF
- Batch files
A 200 KB cap is what you meet wherever a system stores one photo per person or per product: the headshot field in an HR onboarding portal or applicant-tracking profile, the avatar on a company intranet or course platform, the thumbnail slot in a supplier catalog with a few hundred SKUs. What lands on it is a 3–5 MB phone photo, and the rejection rarely says how far over it is.
At 200 KB the quality setting is the wrong place to start. A 4,000 × 3,000 phone photo carries 12 million pixels; a directory shows it at 300 wide, a catalog thumbnail at 600. Bring the width down to 1,000–1,600 px and the file often sits near 200 KB before any quality is given up. Squeeze the full-resolution file instead and you pay in blur for pixels nobody will display.
This page opens with 204,800 bytes as the target and JPG on the format bar. It searches for the highest quality that fits, keeps the dimensions for as long as it can, and shrinks the image only as a last resort. For a logo or a cutout with a transparent background, switch to WebP: it keeps the alpha channel, gets the same quality search, and still meets the target.
How it works
The target is already set. What is left is choosing the pixels and reading the card.
Drop in the photos
Choose the files, drag them onto the page, or paste a screenshot with Ctrl+V. A 12 MP JPG, an iPhone HEIC, a PNG logo or a WebP all go in as they are; the first HEIC triggers a one-time download of a decoder of about 1 MB, after which it is decoded on your device.
Keep JPG, or pick WebP
The settings panel opens with JPG selected; the 200 KB target is built into this page. Move the format bar to WebP when the image has a transparent background you need to keep. Leave Max width (px) empty and a full-size phone photo is best run through Resize image first, at 1,000–1,600 px.
Generate, read the card, download
Click Generate images. Each card lists old size → new size, the percentage, the output dimensions and a target met tag; when 200 KB was out of reach it reads smallest possible instead. Compare slides before and after; download one file or the whole batch as a .zip.
Why the width decides the result at 200 KB
JPEG spends bytes on pixels, so budget divided by pixel count sets the quality the search can reach. 204,800 bytes over a 1,200 × 900 image is about 0.19 bytes per pixel, enough for quality in the 80s. Spread over 12 megapixels it is 0.017, less than any JPEG setting produces, so the page has to shrink the image.
Figures for a 4:3 photo on a plain background; busy scenes cost more bits and sit one row lower.
| Width | Pixels | Typical JPG quality under 200 KB | Where it is used |
|---|---|---|---|
| 800 × 600 | 480,000 | 90+, no visible loss | Avatars, intranet directories |
| 1,200 × 900 | 1.08 MP | 80–88 | HR headshots, catalog thumbnails |
| 1,600 × 1,200 | 1.92 MP | 70–78, texture softens | Product photos on white |
| 4,000 × 3,000 | 12 MP | Cannot fit on quality alone | Shrunk to ~1,000–1,300 px |
What happens after Generate, and why to resize first
Stage one is a binary search on quality: up to 12 JPG or WebP encodes between 5 and 96, each measured against 204,800 bytes, keeping the highest that fits, dimensions untouched.
Stage two runs only if the lowest quality still overshoots: the image is redrawn 15% smaller and encoded at quality 72, up to ten times, stopping at the first size that fits. A 12 MP phone photo usually stops after seven or eight steps, around 1,000–1,300 px wide, at a width the algorithm chose.
This page has no width field, so make that choice yourself: set 1,000–1,600 px on Resize image, then drop the result here. Stage two rarely runs after that, and stage one stops in the 80s.
JPG, WebP or PNG under the same 200 KB
Check the accepted-formats line first: most current forms take .webp, but some HR and catalog systems still list only JPG and PNG. A PNG-only form given a photo gets its dimensions cut hard, since PNG has no quality to search on.
| Output | Transparency | Quality search | Use it for |
|---|---|---|---|
| JPG (preset) | Filled with white | Yes, 5 to 96 | Headshots, product photos; every form takes it |
| WebP | Kept (alpha channel) | Yes, same search | Logos and cutouts; 20–30% smaller than JPG |
| PNG | Kept | None; straight to 15% downscale steps | Flat graphics, which fit anyway |
Target met, but the form still says too large
This page targets 204,800 bytes (200 × 1,024), what Windows Explorer shows as 200 KB. A form that counts 1 KB as 1,000 bytes enforces 200,000, so a result of 203,500 bytes passes one check and fails the other; resize 10% narrower and generate again.
- Pixel minimum: a form demanding 400 × 400 may refuse a photo the automatic downscale took below that. Crop to the face on Crop image, resize to the frame, then compress.
- Already small: a 150 KB input is re-encoded at the highest quality under the target and can come back heavier. If the card shows a plus sign, attach the original.
Frequently asked questions
Will a photo still look sharp at 200 KB?
Up to about 1,600 px wide, yes: the search usually stops at quality 70–90, which is not distinguishable from the original on a screen. Loss shows only when a much larger image is pushed through the downscale stage to a width it would never have needed.
Do I have to resize before using this page?
For a phone photo, it is worth it. This page has no width box, so run the photo through Resize image at 1,000–1,600 px first; the 200 KB search then finishes in the quality stage, at a width you picked rather than one the 15% steps landed on.
Can I keep a transparent background under 200 KB?
Yes, by choosing WebP on the format bar. JPG paints transparent areas white, and PNG is shrunk without a quality search; WebP keeps the alpha channel and gets the full search, so a logo or cutout fits at high quality.
Why did the file come out at 196 KB instead of 200 KB?
Because the search moves quality, not bytes, and each quality step shifts the size by a few KB. It keeps the highest quality that lands at or under 204,800 bytes, so results settle a little below the line, which is also what keeps them from being rejected.
The form has a 200 KB maximum and rejected a file tagged target met. Why?
That form counts 200 KB as 200,000 bytes; this page targets 204,800. If the card shows a size between the two, take 10% off the width on Resize image and generate again, or open the general compressor and lower the quality until the card reads 195 KB or less.
Does the quality slider do anything on this page?
No. With a byte target set, the page runs its own quality search and ignores the slider; the number it lands on is whatever produced the largest file under 204,800 bytes. To pick a quality by hand, use the general compressor instead.
Can I do a whole staff directory in one go?
Yes. Add every photo, generate once, and each file gets its own search to the same 200 KB target. Download all (.zip) bundles the results, and the only limit is your device's memory.
Are the headshots uploaded anywhere while they are compressed?
No. The quality search and any downscaling run in your browser's canvas, so the photos never leave the device. EXIF is stripped from every output, including GPS location and capture time, which is worth knowing for a photo that will sit on a public team page.