Compressing images might be useful and even necessary if you're looking to save storage space, reduce load times for websites, or share images more easily—be it through email or social media. Ubuntu, with its powerful command-line tools and user-friendly applications, offers several methods to compress images effectively. Which ones? This is what we’re about to explore.

How to Resize an Image on Ubuntu

Compressing images on Ubuntu can be done in several ways, from using command-line tools like ImageMagick and jpegoptim to user-friendly applications like GIMP or 4K Image Compressor. Depending on your needs, you can choose the method that works best for you. However, we won’t stop at command-line tools as we believe there are better, user-friendlier alternatives. Whether you prefer lossless compression or need to balance quality with file size, Ubuntu has you covered with a variety of tools.

Use 4K Image Compressor & Resize JPEG, PNG, HEIC & WEBP

4K Image Compressor is an easy-to-use desktop application, compatible with Ubuntu as well as Windows and macOS devices. It can compress images and PDF files (even in batches) and convert images into various formats. Let’s see how it works:

Install 4K Image Compressor on your Ubuntu device.
Launch the app.

Choose the Format of the output file.
Select the Optimization type. You can choose Auto, Lossless (unavailable for JPEG compression), and File Size. The latter setting implies that you can compress an image by a certain percentage or a specific amount of MB, KB, or even bytes.

Drag and drop an image and press Compress.
Press Show Comparison to make sure no quality is lost.

Click on the image right in 4K Image Compressor to open the resized file.

Resize an Image on Ubuntu Using GIMP

GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) is a popular open-source image editor that allows you to compress images easily. Here are the steps you should take:

Install GIMP (if not already installed).
Launch GIMP and open the image you want to compress.
Export the image by clicking on File > Export As.
Choose the format (JPEG is commonly used for compression).
Adjust compression:

For JPEG, a dialog box will appear where you can adjust the compression level by moving the slider. Lower values mean higher compression and lower quality.

Click Export to save the compressed image.

How to Resize an Image with Krita

Krita is another open-source digital painting application, which also doubles as a powerful photo editor. You can easily use it to resize an image and save it in a web-optimized format. Here’s how to do it in just three simple steps:

Install Krita on your computer.
Go to the File menu and select Open to load your image into Krita.
Find the Image menu and choose Scale Image to New Size.
Enter the desired maximum width or height to resize your image accordingly.
Go to the File menu and select Save As.
Save your image as a WEBP file by simply adding the .webp extension (e.g., myphoto.webp). Krita will automatically save the image in the correct format.

Krita is also available for Windows and macOS.

Use Online Image Compression Tools to Resize Any Image

If you prefer not to install additional software or don’t want to use command-line tools, you can use online image compression tools that work directly in your browser.

Use any browser on your Ubuntu device.
Visit an online compression tool. Websites like TinyPNG or JPEG-Optimizer offer free image compression services.
Upload your image, choose the compression settings, and download the compressed file.

As you can see, there are plenty of ways to make an image smaller, even with no need of using a command-line tool. Instead, you can choose any image editor or a compression solution to resize a file without any significant quality loss or none at all. Our top recommendation: 4K Image Compressor, which is a perfect solution to optimize images in bulk, convert photos to other formats, and simply compress them without any drawbacks.