How to Compress a Picture With Paint

The more you shrink an image's dimensions, the smaller its file size.

Image Credit: Image courtesy of Microsoft

Compressing or shrinking a digital image can mean two different things, though both go hand in hand. One use of the term refers to decreasing the dimensions of an image so that it fits better on a website, in a document or as a profile image online. The other meaning describes decreasing the image's file size, which helps images load faster online. Microsoft Paint doesn't provide detailed compression settings for tweaking file size the way Adobe Photoshop does, but by reducing an image's dimensions, cropping the image or resaving it as a JPG, you also lower the file size.

Step 1

Open a picture.

Image Credit: Image courtesy of Microsoft

Open Paint -- search for "Paint" on the Windows 8 Start screen or Windows 7 Start menu -- and load an image by clicking "File" and "Open." On Windows 7, the File menu displays a menu icon instead of the word "File."

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Step 2

Crop the picture.

Image Credit: Image courtesy of Microsoft

Pick the "Select" tool from the Home tab and drag a box on the image to select a portion for cropping, if desired. Press "Crop" to cut the image down to the selection.

Step 3

Resize the picture.

Image Credit: Image courtesy of Microsoft

Click "Resize" to lower the entire image's resolution by shrinking its dimensions. Choose "Pixels" if you know the exact size you want, or enter a percentage. In most cases, you should leave "Maintain Aspect Ratio" turned on to avoid a distorted image. Enter either the horizontal or vertical size, and Paint calculates the other dimension automatically. Press "OK."

If a website asks you for an image of a specific size, but provides only a single dimension value -- e.g., "Please reduce images to 1,000 pixels" -- enter that value for the larger dimension.

Step 4

Tweak the picture's cropping.

Image Credit: Image courtesy of Microsoft

Drag the handles around the image to make minor adjustments to the image's cropping, such as to make an image into a perfect square. As you drag, watch the resolution at the bottom of the window to know where to stop.

Always drag inward on an image from its longer side when making a square. If you drag a handle outward, you end up with extra white space.

Step 5

Save the picture.

Image Credit: Image courtesy of Microsoft

Open the "File" menu, point to "Save As" and pick "JPEG Picture" to save the image without overwriting the original. JPEG images don't look quite as good as PNG images, but JPEG files are usually far smaller, making them ideal for online use.

The only time you should choose "PNG Picture" when trying to compress an image is if your image consists of simple line art or text. In these cases, PNG looks notably better and can even provide a smaller file. PNG files are also better for interim saves, as you lose some quality every time you save as JPEG.

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