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.
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The HR portal wants a headshot, the intranet an avatar, the supplier catalog a thumbnail, and each of them stops at 200 KB. What you have is a phone photo of a few megabytes, and the rejection does not say 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, and a profile or thumbnail slot shows a fraction of them. At 1,600 px wide, 1.92 million are left, 16% of the frame, sharing the same 204,800 bytes. 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 as long as a quality of 50 or more fits, and shrinks the image in 15% steps when none does. 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. For a full-size phone photo, type a width in Max width (px) first; as a starting point we suggest 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. Spread over 12 megapixels it is 0.017, eleven times less.
The more bytes per pixel, the higher the quality the search can keep. Busy scenes cost more than plain backgrounds, so read the card rather than the table; the reasoning is laid out in how to reduce image file size.
| Width | Pixels | Bytes per pixel under 200 KB | Our suggestion for |
|---|---|---|---|
| 800 × 600 | 480,000 | 0.43 | Avatars, intranet directories |
| 1,200 × 900 | 1.08 MP | 0.19 | HR headshots, catalog thumbnails |
| 1,600 × 1,200 | 1.92 MP | 0.11 | Product photos on white |
| 4,000 × 3,000 | 12 MP | 0.017 | Resize before compressing |
What happens after Generate, and why to resize first
Stage one is a binary search on quality: JPG or WebP encodes between 50 and 96, each measured against 204,800 bytes, keeping the highest that fits, dimensions untouched.
Stage two runs if quality 50 still overshoots: the image is redrawn 15% smaller and searched again, up to sixteen times, stopping at the first size where a quality fits. In a test of ours with a 12-megapixel photo in September 2026, a 4,000 px frame stopped at 2,088 × 1,566, a width the steps chose.
Make that choice yourself: type 1,000–1,600 px in Max width (px) before you generate. The photo is resized first and the search runs on what is left.
JPG, WebP or PNG under the same 200 KB
Check the accepted-formats line first. Amazon's listing rules, for one, name JPEG, TIFF, PNG and GIF, and not WebP. 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, 50 to 96 | Headshots and product photos |
| WebP | Kept (alpha channel) | Yes, same search | Logos and cutouts; in Google's own study, 25% to 34% smaller than JPEG at the same SSIM index |
| PNG | Kept | None; straight to 15% downscale steps | Flat graphics |
Target met, but the form still says too large
This page targets 204,800 bytes (200 × 1,024). 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; lower Max width (px) by 10% 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, set the frame on Resize image, 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?
It depends on how many pixels share the 204,800 bytes: 0.11 bytes per pixel at 1,600 × 1,200, 0.017 at 4,000 × 3,000. Resize to the width the photo will be shown at, generate, and judge it against the original in Compare.
Do I have to resize before using this page?
For a phone photo, it is worth it, and you can do it here: type a width in Max width (px), 1,000–1,600 px as a starting point. The 200 KB search then runs on the resized image, 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.
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 different amount. 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 may count 200 KB as 200,000 bytes; this page targets 204,800. If the card shows a size between the two, lower Max width (px) by 10% 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 a GPS location if the phone recorded one, which is worth knowing for a photo that will sit on a public team page.