How to make screenshots smaller
Updated
Most screenshots are PNG at 2x or 3x pixel density, so the file is huge even when the window looked small. Recompress the PNG losslessly to keep every pixel of UI text, or cap max dimension at 1920 or 1280 if you only need a 1x copy. Convert photographic captures to JPG. EditItAll runs in your browser - nothing is uploaded.
Do it now — free, in your browser
Compress a screenshotWhy a screenshot is bigger than it looks
The window on screen might be 800 pixels wide. A retina Mac or a modern phone still writes a PNG at 2x or 3x that - 1600 or 2400 pixels of exact data, plus an alpha channel. PNG is lossless, so it stores every pixel. That is the right format for UI and text, and it is why a “small” capture is 4 MB. The same problem, with more causes, is in why PNG files are so large.
You have two levers: pack the PNG tighter without touching pixels, or throw away extra retina pixels you do not need. Mixing those up is how text goes fuzzy.
Keep the UI sharp: recompress PNG first
If the screenshot is a window, a form, code, or anything with small type, stay on PNG:
- Open the PNG compressor and drop the capture in. Default PNG recompress is lossless - every pixel, including transparency, stays identical. The file just packs tighter. Walkthrough: compress PNG without losing quality.
- If it is still huge because of retina resolution, set max dimension to 1920 or 1280. That is resizing, not lossless pack: you are dropping the extra 2x pixels. UI text at 1x is usually still readable; 800 is often too small for dense UI.
Read the in → out size. There is no target-size box. Batch a folder of captures if you are filing a bug report; ZIP download is included. Everything runs on your device; you can go offline after the page loads. EXIF is stripped on export (most screenshots have little of it anyway).
When JPG is the smaller, honest choice
A screenshot of a photograph, a game scene, or a video frame behaves like a photo. PNG barely shrinks those. Convert to JPG with PNG to JPG or compress as JPEG at quality around 80. That is lossy: fine type and thin UI chrome will soften. Do not do this for a settings panel you need people to read.
EditItAll cannot auto-pick PNG vs JPG from the content, cannot hit a kilobyte target, and cannot OCR the text in a capture. You choose the format. Related: lossy vs lossless and the compressing images cluster.
Ready to try it?
Free, no sign-up, and nothing you open ever leaves your device.
Frequently asked questions
Will compressing a screenshot make the text blurry?+
Not if you stay on PNG and use lossless recompress - pixels stay identical. Blur starts when you resize (dropping 2x pixels) or convert to JPG. Keep PNG for UI.
Why is my screenshot 4 MB when the window looked small?+
Retina and phone captures write 2x or 3x pixels as PNG. The file stores every one of them. Recompress losslessly, or cap max dimension at 1920 or 1280 if you only need 1x.
Should I convert a screenshot to JPG?+
Only if it is mostly a photograph or a game frame. JPG will shrink it a lot and will soften small text. Settings panels, forms, and code stay on PNG.
Can I compress a screenshot to an exact size in KB?+
There is no target-size field. Recompress or resize, then read the listed output and nudge. For a strict KB cap, the exact-size loop in the companion guide applies.
Are screenshots uploaded while I shrink them?+
No. Encoding runs in your browser. Files never leave your device, and the tools keep working offline once the page has loaded.