Compress PNG
Lighter PNGs, with their transparency intact.
Compress your PNG images so they load faster on a website or take up less space when you send them: logos, icons, screenshots and illustrations. We keep the transparency, remove the hidden data, and you download lighter files, with no sign-up and no watermarks.
How to compress a PNG
- Select your PNG images (up to 20 at once).
- Keep the recommended compression or tick “Lossless” if you need every pixel identical.
- Click “Compress PNG”.
- Download the compressed image, or a ZIP if you compressed several. You will see how much you saved.
How we make a PNG smaller
PNG has no quality setting like JPG: it stores every pixel as it is. The most effective way to shrink it is to limit the image to a palette of 256 colours chosen for it, as the best-known PNG compression tools do:
- If your image already has 256 colours or fewer (many logos, icons and graphics), the change is exact: not a single pixel changes.
- If it has more, we choose the 256 that represent it best and spread them with fine dithering so gradients don’t form bands.
- Transparency is kept at every level: soft shadows and blurred edges included.
With logos, icons, screenshots and illustrations, the result is usually half the size or less, with no visible difference. We also remove the metadata (text, editing software, EXIF data) and save with maximum compression.
We never give you back a larger file: if reducing the colours isn’t worth it, you get the lossless version or the original without metadata, whichever is smaller.
When to tick “Lossless”
Tick it if you need the image to be identical pixel for pixel: design originals you will keep editing, scientific images or screenshots for technical documentation. In that case we only optimise how it is stored and remove the metadata, and the saving is usually small.
Photos saved as PNG
If your PNG is a photo, reducing it to 256 colours isn’t worth it and the saving will be small. For photos, the effective approach is to change format: convert the PNG to JPG or, for a website, to WebP.
Limitations
- Very smooth, wide gradients (a background fading from one colour to another) are the hardest to reduce unnoticeably; in that case we give you back the version that doesn’t lose quality.
- Animated PNGs (APNG) stay animated, but we only remove their metadata.
- Up to 20 images at once, 20 MB per image, 100 MB in total and 100 megapixels per image.
Frequently asked questions
Does compressing a PNG lose quality?
The recommended compression reduces the image to 256 colours. With logos, icons, screenshots and illustrations the difference can’t be seen, and if the image already had 256 colours or fewer the result is identical. With “Lossless”, every pixel stays the same.
Is transparency kept when compressing a PNG?
Yes, at every level: transparent areas, soft shadows and blurred edges stay the same.
Why did my PNG barely get smaller?
It usually happens with photos and smooth gradients, which need many colours. If it is a photo, convert it to JPG or WebP: it will be much smaller.
What is the difference between the normal compression and “Lossless”?
The normal one reduces the image to a 256-colour palette and usually ends up half the size or less. Lossless keeps every pixel identical and only optimises how it is stored, so the saving is small.