Does it makes sense to use an image compression app?

Technical Q&A
1

Hello.

If I am correct Shopify started automatically compressing images and using webp when possible a few years ago (July 2019). And now Shopify recommendation is to upload images with the highest quality possible, since they will handle that part.

Yet, I see many apps in the app store that offer image compression:

https://apps.shopify.com/smart-image-optimizer

https://apps.shopify.com/booster-apps-seo-optimizer

https://apps.shopify.com/crush-pics

…

I understand that these apps may optimize images in other ways (metatags, alt texts, titles, etc…)

But, does it make sense to use an external compression tool if Shopify already does it?

Thanks!

2

Hi @xvm ,

Yes, you’re right. To keep load times fast, Shopify automatically compresses images when they’re displayed on your online store. However, I think you can check the store performance with PageSpeed Insights to see if there’re any issues left with image size or not. If yes, you can consider using an external app or tool to do the image optimization so the page speed, as well as the customers’ experience, can be improved as much as possible.

I hope this is helpful to you!