WordPress’s optimization handbook recommends reviewing image formats and compression.
Choose more than a photograph
WordPress’s optimization handbook recommends reviewing image formats and compression. Build a sample set with an editorial photo, a transparent graphic and a detailed product image. These have different quality requirements. Record the originals and where the files appear before trying a bulk conversion.
Compare at actual display sizes
Review exports at the dimensions readers use, including a phone and any zoom view. Record bytes alongside visible quality. Look for damaged text, blurred product detail and unwanted background changes. A format that performs well on one photograph is not automatically the right decision for every asset.
Check transparency and backgrounds
Place a transparent sample against both light and dark site surfaces. Inspect edges and empty areas. Make sure your delivery component serves the intended version and that a fallback still works where required. Keep the file URL and the rendered result in the test log.
Trial a small batch
Process only the selected samples on staging using the documented component settings. Verify originals remain available if that is your recovery plan. Check article thumbnails, gallery sizes and larger views separately. Regenerated files and page markup need to agree about which version should be delivered.
Define acceptance by content type
Write separate acceptance notes for photographs, text-heavy graphics and product shots. Keep the setting that passes both quality and delivery checks. If a sample fails, preserve the original and investigate a different export for that type. Do not let a file-size target override the information visitors need from the image.
Put it into practice
- Choose more than a photograph
- Compare at actual display sizes
- Check transparency and backgrounds
- Trial a small batch
- Define acceptance by content type
AI-assisted educational content prepared for the Velonic resource library. How these guides are prepared.