Need to scale your images?
By the end of this guide, you will know how to serve scaled images, which is important for both site speed and user experience.
What this guide will cover:
What scaled images are Why serve scaled images Manual scaling of images Plugins for automatic image scaling Ready? Let's get started!
What are scaled images?
Scaled images are resized versions of your original photos or graphics , tailored to seamlessly fit the specific dimensions required by your website without losing quality.
When you upload an image to WordPress, it might be larger or smaller than the space it's intended for — scaled images are adjusted to match these dimensions perfectly.
For example:
When the spot on your website where you want to use a large photo is only 800 pixels wide, you would scale down the image to a width of 800 pixels so it fits perfectly.
This process involves resizing the image to the appropriate width and height and making sure it fits seamlessly into your site's layout without compromising on its quality and clarity.
Why serve scaled images in WordPress?
Although WordPress does some automatic scaling , these automatic sizes might not perfectly fit your needs, so manual scaling can be necessary.
Serving scaled images in WordPress is important for several reasons:
Enhanced page load speed : By scaling images to their display size, you reduce their file size to preserve page loading times.Optimal use of server resources : Scaled images are smaller in file size, which means they use less bandwidth and storage on your server.Better user experience : Websites with properly sized images look more professional and are easier to navigate, encouraging visitors to stay and explore your site longer.Improved SEO rankings : Search engines like Google prioritize websites that load quickly so with scaled image files, your site becomes more efficient and search engine friendly.Consistency across devices : Scaled images ensure that your website looks good on all devices, whether it's a desktop, tablet, or smartphone. Serving scaled WordPress images, despite having to do additional steps in addition to just uploading images, has a lot of benefits.
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Method 1: Manual Scaling
You can scale images using various tools — either before uploading them to WordPress or using WordPress's built-in image editing tools.
If you want to manually scale images, you will need an image editor (even online, less powerful ones than Adobe Photoshop can work).
Step 1: Know the website’s image max display sizes
Before visiting the online editor, you will have to analyze the website where the scaled images will be uploaded.
You can use your browser’s inspector tool (right-click anywhere on the page and then find the inspect option ) and see the content width.
What you need to look for here is the maximum content width (if you’re aiming to display the images at 100% of the content width).
You can see from the screenshot above that the maximum content width of the blog at full screen is 730 px.
That will be your basis for how you would scale the images to upload to your website.
Step 2: Upload the image sought to be rescaled
Most image editors, even online ones, have this capability.
For this guide, I will be using the online image editor PicResize. But if you want to use another image editor, feel free to do so as the steps are generally the same.
Now, head to the site upload the image that will be rescaled.
Step 3: Rescale the image
From the size selection drop-down button, select a new size for the uploaded image.
Most image editing software has predefined sizes for resizing images. But it would be more effective if you enter a custom size with the width that you need.
Like this:
For some online image editors, you may have to click the edit image link.
If you don’t want to scale the image down to the website’s max width, you can use the predefined settings available like reducing the size to 50%.
Step 4: Finish the rescaling process
After the scaled image has been edited, download (if online) or save (if you’re using a desktop image editor) the rescaled image.
Now that you have the rescaled image, you can upload it to your website's media library.
If you have resized the image to the maximum width (or higher) beforehand, the website will display the image in full by default.
Method 2: Using Plugins
Another option available for serving scaled images is through trusted plugins.
Among the most common plugins utilized for this purpose are TinyPNG, EWWW Image Optimizer, and Optimus.
Their respective functions will be explained as follows.
1. TinyPNG
TinyPNG free, highly regarded WordPress plugin known for its simplicity and efficiency in image compression, particularly for JPEG, PNG, and WebP formats.
The plugin offers bulk optimization, integrates well with various plugins, and even supports the compression of animated PNGs.
Setting up TinyPNG is straightforward — install and activate the plugin and then you can configure it through the settings options.
2. EWWW Image Optimizer
EWWW Image Optimizer free, comprehensive image optimization tool for WordPress, praised for its efficiency and versatility in improving website performance.
It offers unlimited lossless compression and lazy loading, with a premium option for even greater compression, up to 80% reduction in some cases.
After the plugin is installed and activated, you can access its settings to configure the plugin according to your preferences.
3. Optimus
Optimus without losing any quality .
Aside from bulk optimization, its WebP conversion and progressive JPEG features offer additional advantages in terms of user experience.
Optimus prioritizes privacy by ensuring that no files are stored on their servers after the optimization process.
The Importance of Optimization
Image optimization is not just about making images fit aesthetically — it's also about enhancing your website's performance and user experience to attract and retain visitors.
Properly scaled images not only lead to faster load times, improved SEO, and efficient use of resources but also ensure that your website looks polished and professional.
The key to serving scaled images is to find the balance between the physical size of the image (in pixels) and its file size (in kilobytes or megabytes).
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