---
title: "Image compression: meaning and marketplace rules | Herofab"
description: "Reducing the weight of an image file. Lossy compression discards detail the eye rarely misses; lossless compression keeps every pixel."
url: https://herofab.app/glossary/image-compression
language: en
updated: 2026-10-07
---

# Image compression

Reducing the weight of an image file. Lossy compression discards detail the eye rarely misses; lossless compression keeps every pixel.

Also called **JPEG compression** · **lossy compression** · **image quality setting**

![The same bottle on a wooden surface](https://herofab.app/img/ex/perfume-wood-1100.webp)

Made with Herofab · Product studio

JPEG and the usual mode of WebP are lossy: at each save, fine detail is simplified according to a quality setting. At a high setting the change cannot be seen; at a low one, blocks, halos around edges and banding in smooth areas appear. PNG is lossless, which suits flat colour and transparency and makes photographs heavy.

Compression is the tool for meeting a marketplace's limit on file weight without shrinking the pixel dimensions. Lowering the quality setting a little cuts the weight sharply, long before the picture looks worse. Heavy files also upload slowly, and on a weak connection may not finish at all.

Each lossy save discards a little more, so an image that is opened, edited and saved again several times degrades step by step. Editing from the original and compressing once, at export, keeps the loss to a single pass. Fabric texture, fine print and hairlines are the places where over-compression shows first.

## Image compression, answered.

**What JPEG quality setting should I use for product photos?**

A high setting just below the maximum is the usual choice. The top of the scale makes the file much heavier without a visible gain, while the middle of the scale starts to show blocks and halos in fabric texture and fine print. The scale differs between programs, so judge the exported file by eye at full size, not by the figure.

**Why do my product photos look worse after I upload them?**

Often because the platform compresses them again. Many shops and marketplaces convert uploaded images to their own format and size for delivery, and a file that was already compressed hard takes a second loss on the way. Uploading a lightly compressed file within the marketplace's weight limit leaves the platform more to work with.

## What marketplaces say about it.

Updated 25 September 2026

- **Etsy:** Files over 1 MB may not finish uploading on a slow connection [Official page](https://help.etsy.com/hc/en-us/articles/115015663347-Requirements-and-Best-Practices-for-Images-in-Your-Etsy-Shop)
- **ABOUT YOU:** JPEG up to 2 MB (white or grey background); PNG up to 4 MB (transparent background) [Official page](https://docs.partner.aboutyou.com/user-guide/product-image-requirements)

Related

[Upscale](https://herofab.app/tools/image-upscaler) · [Image zoom](https://herofab.app/glossary/image-zoom) · [HEIC](https://herofab.app/glossary/heic) · [All terms](https://herofab.app/glossary/)