Compress PNG to 200 KB

Q: What happens if 200 KB cannot be reached with the palette alone?

With **Allow downscaling** on, the tool then reduces the width and height step by step until the file fits. A 2880 × 1800 Retina screenshot full of photos is the usual case. Set **Minimum width** under **Advanced settings** if text must stay readable at a particular size.

This page takes a PNG and returns a PNG of 200 KB or less, transparent areas intact. It reduces the color palette before it touches the pixel dimensions, which is why screenshots and flat graphics usually keep their full size.

or drop JPG, JPEG, JFIF … files here ·

Max 95 MB per file· Up to 20 files· Deleted after 30 minutes

Compress to

Compress by

Target size

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Output format

Files are processed on our servers and deleted after 30 minutes.

How to use this tool

1
Upload the PNG files
Drop one PNG or up to 20 at once, each up to 95 MB. Screenshots, exported slides and logo files all work.
2
Leave the target at 200 KB, output PNG
Target size reads 200 KB and Output format reads PNG. PNG compression starts on Lossy (smaller); switch to Lossless only if every pixel must stay exactly as it is.
3
Press Compress to PNG
Press Compress to PNG and download. The result is a normal PNG that any browser, editor or upload form opens.

A PNG reaches 200 KB by cutting colors, not pixels: a 1920 × 1080 screenshot reduced to a 256-color palette often fits with its full resolution and transparency intact.

Why PNG files end up over 200 KB

Most oversized PNGs are screenshots. macOS saves screenshots as PNG by default, and so does the Windows Snipping Tool, so a single capture of a 2880 × 1800 Retina display is 5.2 million pixels stored without loss. Uncompressed, at 4 bytes per pixel with transparency, that is about 20 MB of raw data; even after PNG's own compression a screenshot with photos or a blurred wallpaper often lands between 1 and 5 MB.

A 200 KB ceiling is common on support ticket systems, documentation wikis, forum attachments, app store review notes and online course platforms. It is also a sensible budget for a diagram embedded in a web page. The trouble is that you usually need to stay in PNG: the image has a transparent background, crisp interface text, or the upload form simply lists PNG as the only accepted type.

Lossy or lossless PNG compression at 200 KB

Default

Lossy PNG

Colors are reduced to a palette of up to 256 entries, then the file is saved as an ordinary PNG.

Often 60–80% smaller on screenshots
Transparency kept, including soft edges
Faint banding possible in gradients

Exact pixels

Lossless PNG

Every pixel is kept; only the encoding is tightened and metadata is removed.

Pixel-perfect output
Saves little on busy images
Reaches 200 KB mainly by downscaling

Leave PNG

WebP output

Choose WebP under Output format when the destination accepts it.

Keeps an alpha channel
Handles photos far better than PNG
Not accepted by every upload form

Reduce PNG file size to 200 KB: the pixel math

A 1920 × 1080 image has 2,073,600 pixels. At 200 KB, which is 204,800 bytes, the file can spend about 0.8 bits per pixel. Full-color PNG starts from 24 or 32 bits per pixel before compression, so the encoder has to find a 30- to 40-fold saving. Flat interface areas compress that well; a photo pasted into the screenshot does not.

A palette changes the starting point. Each pixel becomes a single 8-bit index into a table of up to 256 colors, a quarter of the data before Deflate even runs, and long runs of identical indexes compress very efficiently. That is why lossy mode usually reaches 200 KB without any resize, while lossless mode has to fall back on fewer pixels. For a smaller cap on the same kind of image, use compress PNG to 100 KB; the JPG vs PNG guide explains which format suits which picture.

Bytes in 200 KB at 1,024 bytes per KB: 204,800
Pixels in one 2880 × 1800 Retina screenshot: 5,184,000
Most colors a PNG palette (PLTE chunk) can hold: 256
Per pixel for a palette index, not 24 or 32: 8 bits

PNG at 200 KB: what people ask

Why is my PNG screenshot so much bigger than a JPG of the same picture?

PNG is lossless: it stores every pixel exactly, using Deflate, the same compression family as ZIP files. That suits sharp text and flat color, but a photo or a gradient inside the screenshot has almost no repetition for Deflate to exploit, so the file grows quickly.

Does lossy PNG compression keep the transparent background?

Yes. Lossy PNG here means reducing the image to a palette of at most 256 colors, and each palette entry can carry its own transparency. Soft shadows and anti-aliased edges stay smooth, and the file remains a true PNG rather than a JPG renamed.

What happens if 200 KB cannot be reached with the palette alone?

With Allow downscaling on, the tool then reduces the width and height step by step until the file fits. A 2880 × 1800 Retina screenshot full of photos is the usual case. Set Minimum width under Advanced settings if text must stay readable at a particular size.

When should I give up on PNG and pick another format?

When the image is mostly photographic and has no transparency. A JPG or WebP of the same picture is often a fraction of the size, so convert PNG to JPG or set Output format to WebP, which also supports transparency.

Will the colors of my logo shift after quantizing?

Flat brand colors are usually reproduced exactly, because a logo rarely uses more than a few dozen distinct colors. Photographic areas and wide gradients are where 256 colors can show faint banding; switch PNG compression to Lossless if you notice it.