Compressed Images Look Lower Quality Than Expected
Last updated April 16, 2026
A little softness after compression is normal; obvious banding or blur usually means settings or source assets need attention.
Step down aggressiveness
Switch from Custom to Balanced or Conservative as described in Compression presets explained. Re-run on a single image and compare zoomed views.
Match resolution to layout
If Shopify or your theme displays a 400px-wide image but the file is 4000px wide, compression alone will not fix the download cost—and aggressive settings hurt more. Export or replace with dimensions closer to the maximum display size. This is a theme issue.
Watch double processing
Re-saving the same JPEG repeatedly accumulates artifacts. Prefer working from the original upload when possible; use Restoring images if you still have originals.
Theme and CDN sharpening
Some themes apply sharpening or lazy-load placeholders that change perception. Test with those features temporarily disabled to isolate Crush.pics output.