French Fried Files

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Cat VS Quality
 
Generally speaking, it's best if cartoons or other images with few colors are saved using a lossless format like PNG, as they can compress the data more cleanly and effectively than a JPEG.

In order to test this, a simple drawing of a locomotive was produced using vector graphic software and then saved as JPEGs with progressively lower quality.

The original file is 11.1 KB as a compressed PNG, or 24.4 KB as a 100% quality JPEG.


Quality Examples

75% Quality

Base Image

 Compressed Image: 12.2 KB
 Difference: 10.6%
Reducing the quality to 75% has shrunk the file's size to almost what PNG was able to achieve, but artifacting is already noticable around the dark green area and the teal border. The top border in particular looks wrinkled.

50% Quality

Base Image

 Compressed Image: 9.54 KB
 Difference: 16.4%
Except for the more pronounced winkle on the top banner, there doesn't seem to be much difference between the 75% and 50% images.

25% Quality

Base Image

 Compressed Image: 7.35 KB
 Difference: 23.0%
Dropping the quality to 25% has made the distortion in the dark green area very obvious, and the entire image seems to be blurred slightly.

10% Quality

Base Image

 Compressed Image: 5.02 KB
 Difference: 28.8%
At 10% quality, there are artifacts throughout the image. The 25% quality image isn't that much larger, so nothing is really gained by reducing the quality this far.

0% Quality

Base Image

 Compressed Image: 3.38 KB
 Difference: 51.5%
Realistically nobody would attempt to save a JPEG at 0% quality, but the results show just how much can be lost through compression. The image looks blocky, and the banners have even changed color.


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