How to reduce PNG file size
PNGs balloon because they store every pixel losslessly. Three techniques shrink them dramatically — often 70–80% — with no visible difference.
What actually shrinks a PNG
- Palette quantization — reducing to 256 well-chosen colors converts 32-bit PNGs to 8-bit, the single biggest win for screenshots and graphics.
- Stripping metadata — EXIF, color profiles and text chunks add weight that browsers ignore.
- Resizing — a 4K screenshot displayed at 800px wide carries 10× more pixels than needed.
Steps
- Drop your PNG into the optimizer — it quantizes and strips metadata automatically.
- Compare before/after preview; quantization is imperceptible on most screenshots and UI graphics.
- If it's still too big, resize dimensions down or convert to WebP for photos.
When PNG is the wrong format
If the image is a photograph, no PNG optimizer will save you — photographic gradients defeat palette compression. Convert photos to WebP or JPG instead; keep PNG for screenshots, logos and anything needing sharp edges or transparency.
Tools used in this guide
Related guides
How to reduce PNG file size — FAQ
Screenshots and graphics typically shrink 60–80% via 8-bit quantization. Photos compress poorly as PNG — convert those to WebP or JPG.