Note: Yahoo! stopped hosting Smushit in March 2015, but there is an alternative at reSmush.it. See this article for more information.
Yahoo! YSlow Smush.it™ uses optimization techniques specific to image format to remove unnecessary bytes from image files. It is a “lossless” tool, which means it optimizes the images without changing their look or visual quality. After Smush.it runs on a web page it reports how many bytes would be saved by optimizing the page’s images and provides a downloadable zip file with the minimized image files.
Running WordPress? You can install the WP Smush.it plugin. It will run every image you add to a page or post through the Smush.it optimizer.
Related resources:
- Deploying Sprites for Speedier Sites
- The Book of Speed Chapter 5,
Optimizing Images - If you’re using a Mac, you’ll find ImageOptim to be a quick and easy to use tool for optimizing images. It works by finding best compression parameters and by removing unnecessary comments and color profiles. It handles PNG, JPEG and GIF animations. Caution: if you use it to remove color profiles, be sure to read their color profile instructions first so that you don’t end up with an unwanted color shift.
Image credit: prill / 123RF Stock Photo
