264: How To Use Squoosh by Google

3 min readNov 19, 2018

Image Compression Web App to Reduce File Size

Squoosh

“Squoosh is an image compression web app that allows you to dive into the advanced options provided by various image compressors.”
Squoosh was developed to make web pages load faster by reducing the file size of images.
Video Tutorial: At the bottom of this article if you want to skip the text.

Why Use Squoosh?

You will use this tool to make file sizes of images smaller.
One practical example: Your podcast cover art is too large for Apple requirements and you want to squoosh it down to under 500kb as recommended.

Summary:

Squoosh is a web-based browser app that reduces the file size of images while maintaining image quality.
Squoosh was developed in an effort to speed up load times of websites by providing a tool to web developers to quickly and easily shrink or ‘squoosh’ images to the smallest file size possible

The Quick How To:
• Open an Image in Squoosh
• Reduce size, change file formats, use quality slider
• Compare ‘squooshed’ image with original using slider
• Look at the file size of original vs squooshed
• When file size is low and image quality is high, click Download button

Note: Experiment with settings and formats
The goal: Smallest file size. Highest quality. (Balance)

How To Use Squoosh.app

1. Open in Browser

Squoosh works in all major web browsers and mobile devices
Open a web browser and type in: https://squoosh.app
Drag & Drop or Select an Image to upload from computer
Sample Images at the bottom if you want to test it out
You can not batch upload images. One image at a time only.

2. Interface

Return to Main Screen (upper-left corner)
Boxes (Bottom left & right corners)
•Left is Original Image (‘Before) by Default, but can be changed
•Right box is where you reduce file size or squoosh (‘After’)
•Blue Download buttons in the corner when done
Zoom (bottom-center)
• Use scroll wheel on mouse
• Use Plus (+) or Minus (-) keys in bottom center
Toggle Background (bottom-center) for different looks
Comparison Slider (center).
•Before & After
•Original on left, Squooshed on Right
•Drag to compare

Image Compressors in Squoosh

OptiPNG is a PNG optimizer that recompresses image files to a smaller size, without losing any information
MozJpeg reduces file sizes of JPEG images while retaining quality and compatibility with the vast majority of the world’s deployed decoders.
WebP is an image format employing both lossy and lossless compression. It is currently developed by Google