Why 1 MB?
1 MB is a practical ceiling for images on websites and in emails: large enough for a sharp photo 2,000 px wide, small enough to load quickly on a phone. Some marketplaces recommend keeping listing photos under about 1 MB for fast loading, and many content management systems warn above it.
Photos at 1 MB
A 12-megapixel phone photo is typically 3–5 MB. At 2,000 px on the long edge and JPEG quality 85, most photos land between 400 KB and 1 MB with no visible difference on screen. The search keeps the original dimensions if quality alone gets it under 1 MB, and only then shrinks.
For websites
On a website, also consider the display size: an image shown 800 px wide does not need to be 2,000 px wide, except for high-density screens, where about double the display width is plenty. WebP or AVIF can cut the size by a third to a half again with the same look, and all current browsers support them.
For email
Mail servers often cap total attachment size around 20–25 MB, and big attachments are slow on phones. Compressing each photo to 1 MB lets you send a dozen comfortably.
For marketplaces
Listing sites want large, detailed photos for zoom, but also fast pages. Etsy asks for at least 2,000 px per side, and 1 MB at that size is achievable for most product shots at good quality. Check each platform's current rules; see the Etsy, eBay and Shopify presets.
Step by step
- Add the photo or scan, ideally the original from your camera or scanner rather than a copy sent through a messaging app.
- If the form gives pixel dimensions, type them as the maximum width and height above the button.
- Leave the format on JPG unless the form accepts WebP; JPG is what website, email and marketplace portals almost always want.
- Click Compress to 1 MB. The result shows the final size, dimensions and quality.
- Open the downloaded file and check it at 100% before uploading: faces clear, text legible.
What to expect at 1 MB
As a rough guide, 1 MB is enough for a detailed photo for the web or a listing at about 2,000 px wide px. The exact numbers depend on the content: plain backgrounds and soft light compress far better than busy, high-contrast scenes. Because the tool measures every attempt, you get the highest quality that genuinely fits rather than a guess that might be over the limit or needlessly blurry.
Troubleshooting
- The form says the file is still too big. Some forms count 1 KB as 1,000 bytes, not 1,024. Lower the target by about 3% and run it again.
- The form says the image is too small. It has a minimum pixel size or minimum file size as well. Set the maximum width and height to its stated dimensions, and use a higher quality.
- The photo looks blocky. Crop away background so the same bytes are spent on the subject, or start from a sharper original.
- The upload is refused as the wrong type. Check the file ends in .jpg; some forms reject .jpeg or WebP. Rename it if needed; the content is the same.
Private by design
The image never leaves your device. It is decoded in your browser, processed in a background worker by open-source codecs compiled to WebAssembly (MozJPEG, libwebp, libavif and OxiPNG, via the jsquash project, plus pica for resizing) and handed back as a download. There is no upload, no account and no server copy to delete. You can confirm it in your browser's developer tools: the Network tab shows the page's own files and the codec files loading, and nothing carrying your image. After the first visit the tools work offline.