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Compress photo to 20 KB

To compress a photo to 20 KB: upload your file, select the “To size” mode and set 20 KB — Sevio picks the quality automatically. This limit is typical for thumbnails, avatars and light attachments: for a thumbnail the compression is plenty, while a full-size photo at 20 KB is a quality trade-off. No sign-up, and your file is deleted automatically after processing.

Upload up to 20 images at once with a total size of up to 30 MB — completely free, no sign-up required. Create an account or to compress up to 30 images with a total size of up to 50 MB.

Compression mode

applies to all files

Target sizeMinimum 10 KB
KB

Quick pick

How it works

  1. 1

    Drop your images or pick files — a ZIP archive works too.

  2. 2

    Choose the compression mode and, if needed, a target size.

  3. 3

    Download the results one by one or as a single ZIP.

When exactly 20 KB is required

20 KB is the working weight of a thumbnail. It is the budget for product previews in catalogues, profile avatars, partner logos in a site footer and images in email campaigns: mail clients throttle heavy attachments, and a listing page with fifty previews must not weigh megabytes.

The logic differs from the hard caps of application forms. You pick 20 KB not because a form demands it, but because the image is displayed small anyway — there is no reason to pay for detail nobody will see.

Keep weight and dimensions in step

The classic thumbnail mistake is compressing to 20 KB while keeping the original resolution. A 2000×2000 image squeezed into 20 KB looks dirty: the browser still renders it inside a 300×300 slot, the compression artifacts remain visible, and it eats as much memory as a full-size file.

The right order is to first bring the resolution down to the size the image is actually displayed at — usually 300–600 pixels on the long edge — and only then compress to 20 KB. That leaves enough data per pixel and the thumbnail stays clean.

When 20 KB is not enough

If the image can be opened full-screen — a product card with zoom, or a photo in a gallery — 20 KB shows immediately. Use 100 KB or more for those. The 20 KB threshold is designed for previews: the image you click to get the proper version.

What compressing to 20 KB actually produces

Source imageOriginal sizeResultWhat you notice
Product preview, 300×30090 KB20 KBNo visible difference
Profile avatar, 400×400150 KB20 KBClean, no artifacts
UI screenshot, 1920×1080600 KB20 KB after downscaling to 960×540Large text readable, small text mushy
Product photo, 2000×20001.2 MB20 KB without downscalingVisible mush on edges — downscale to 500×500

Screenshots are a special case: they are full of sharp edges and text, which JPEG handles worse than photographs. At this weight, PNG or WebP usually wins for interfaces and diagrams.

Frequently asked questions

Yes — avatars are displayed at a small size, so compression to 20 KB is usually unnoticeable on them. For full-screen viewing, a 100–200 KB target works better.
You most likely squeezed a full-resolution image into 20 KB. Downscale it first to the size it is actually displayed at — typically 300–600 pixels on the long edge — then compress again: the result will be noticeably cleaner.
Fifty such thumbnails add up to roughly 1 MB of images — acceptable for a catalogue if lazy loading is on. Without it, stay within 20–25 images above the fold.
WebP: at 20 KB it keeps edges noticeably cleaner, and every current browser supports it. Keep JPEG where the image will be opened by third-party software with older format support.
It is left untouched. This is common with thumbnails your CMS or shop engine already generated — recompressing them would only add artifacts without winning any weight.

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