[javascript] How to compress an image via Javascript in the browser?

TL;DR;

Is there a way to compress an image (mostly jpeg, png and gif) directly browser-side, before uploading it ? I'm pretty sure JavaScript can do this, but I can't find a way to achieve it.

Here's the full scenario I would like to implement:

• the user goes to my website, and choose an image via an input type="file" element,
• this image is retrieved via JavaScript, we do some verification such as correct file format, maximum file size etc,
• if every thing is OK, a preview of the image is displayed on the page,
• the user can do some basic operations such as rotate the image by 90°/-90°, crop it following a pre-defined ratio, etc, or the user can upload another image and return to step 1,
• when the user is satisfied, the edited image is then compressed and "saved" locally (not saved to a file, but in the browser memory/page),-
• the user fill a form with data like name, age etc,
• the user click on the "Finish" button, then the form containing datas + compressed image is sent to the server (without AJAX),

The full process up to the last step should be done client side, and should be compatible on latest Chrome and Firefox, Safari 5+ and IE 8+. If possible, only JavaScript should be used (but I'm pretty sure this is not possible).

I've not code anything right now, but I've thought about it already. File reading locally is possible via File API, image previewing and editing could be done using Canvas element, but I can't find a way to do the image compression part.

According to html5please.com and caniuse.com, supporting those browser is quite hard (thanks to IE), but could be done using polyfill such as FlashCanvas and FileReader.

Actually, the goal is to reduce file size, so I see image compression as a solution. But, I know that uploaded images are going to be displayed on my website, every time at the same place, and I know the dimension of this display area (eg. 200x400). So, I could resize the image to fit those dimensions, thus reducing file size. I have no idea what would be the compression ratio for this technique.

What do you think ? Do you have any advice to tell me ? Do you know any way to compress an image browser-side in JavaScript ? Thanks for your replies.

@PsychoWoods' answer is good. I would like to offer my own solution. This Javascript function takes an image data URL and a width, scales it to the new width, and returns a new data URL.

// Take an image URL, downscale it to the given width, and return a new image URL.
function downscaleImage(dataUrl, newWidth, imageType, imageArguments) {
    "use strict";
    var image, oldWidth, oldHeight, newHeight, canvas, ctx, newDataUrl;

    // Provide default values
    imageType = imageType || "image/jpeg";
    imageArguments = imageArguments || 0.7;

    // Create a temporary image so that we can compute the height of the downscaled image.
    image = new Image();
    image.src = dataUrl;
    oldWidth = image.width;
    oldHeight = image.height;
    newHeight = Math.floor(oldHeight / oldWidth * newWidth)

    // Create a temporary canvas to draw the downscaled image on.
    canvas = document.createElement("canvas");
    canvas.width = newWidth;
    canvas.height = newHeight;

    // Draw the downscaled image on the canvas and return the new data URL.
    ctx = canvas.getContext("2d");
    ctx.drawImage(image, 0, 0, newWidth, newHeight);
    newDataUrl = canvas.toDataURL(imageType, imageArguments);
    return newDataUrl;
}

This code can be used anywhere you have a data URL and want a data URL for a downscaled image.

I see two things missing from the other answers:

• canvas.toBlob (when available) is more performant than canvas.toDataURL, and also async.
• the file -> image -> canvas -> file conversion loses EXIF data; in particular, data about image rotation commonly set by modern phones/tablets.

The following script deals with both points:

// From https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/HTMLCanvasElement/toBlob, needed for Safari:
if (!HTMLCanvasElement.prototype.toBlob) {
    Object.defineProperty(HTMLCanvasElement.prototype, 'toBlob', {
        value: function(callback, type, quality) {

            var binStr = atob(this.toDataURL(type, quality).split(',')[1]),
                len = binStr.length,
                arr = new Uint8Array(len);

            for (var i = 0; i < len; i++) {
                arr[i] = binStr.charCodeAt(i);
            }

            callback(new Blob([arr], {type: type || 'image/png'}));
        }
    });
}

window.URL = window.URL || window.webkitURL;

// Modified from https://stackoverflow.com/a/32490603, cc by-sa 3.0
// -2 = not jpeg, -1 = no data, 1..8 = orientations
function getExifOrientation(file, callback) {
    // Suggestion from http://code.flickr.net/2012/06/01/parsing-exif-client-side-using-javascript-2/:
    if (file.slice) {
        file = file.slice(0, 131072);
    } else if (file.webkitSlice) {
        file = file.webkitSlice(0, 131072);
    }

    var reader = new FileReader();
    reader.onload = function(e) {
        var view = new DataView(e.target.result);
        if (view.getUint16(0, false) != 0xFFD8) {
            callback(-2);
            return;
        }
        var length = view.byteLength, offset = 2;
        while (offset < length) {
            var marker = view.getUint16(offset, false);
            offset += 2;
            if (marker == 0xFFE1) {
                if (view.getUint32(offset += 2, false) != 0x45786966) {
                    callback(-1);
                    return;
                }
                var little = view.getUint16(offset += 6, false) == 0x4949;
                offset += view.getUint32(offset + 4, little);
                var tags = view.getUint16(offset, little);
                offset += 2;
                for (var i = 0; i < tags; i++)
                    if (view.getUint16(offset + (i * 12), little) == 0x0112) {
                        callback(view.getUint16(offset + (i * 12) + 8, little));
                        return;
                    }
            }
            else if ((marker & 0xFF00) != 0xFF00) break;
            else offset += view.getUint16(offset, false);
        }
        callback(-1);
    };
    reader.readAsArrayBuffer(file);
}

// Derived from https://stackoverflow.com/a/40867559, cc by-sa
function imgToCanvasWithOrientation(img, rawWidth, rawHeight, orientation) {
    var canvas = document.createElement('canvas');
    if (orientation > 4) {
        canvas.width = rawHeight;
        canvas.height = rawWidth;
    } else {
        canvas.width = rawWidth;
        canvas.height = rawHeight;
    }

    if (orientation > 1) {
        console.log("EXIF orientation = " + orientation + ", rotating picture");
    }

    var ctx = canvas.getContext('2d');
    switch (orientation) {
        case 2: ctx.transform(-1, 0, 0, 1, rawWidth, 0); break;
        case 3: ctx.transform(-1, 0, 0, -1, rawWidth, rawHeight); break;
        case 4: ctx.transform(1, 0, 0, -1, 0, rawHeight); break;
        case 5: ctx.transform(0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0); break;
        case 6: ctx.transform(0, 1, -1, 0, rawHeight, 0); break;
        case 7: ctx.transform(0, -1, -1, 0, rawHeight, rawWidth); break;
        case 8: ctx.transform(0, -1, 1, 0, 0, rawWidth); break;
    }
    ctx.drawImage(img, 0, 0, rawWidth, rawHeight);
    return canvas;
}

function reduceFileSize(file, acceptFileSize, maxWidth, maxHeight, quality, callback) {
    if (file.size <= acceptFileSize) {
        callback(file);
        return;
    }
    var img = new Image();
    img.onerror = function() {
        URL.revokeObjectURL(this.src);
        callback(file);
    };
    img.onload = function() {
        URL.revokeObjectURL(this.src);
        getExifOrientation(file, function(orientation) {
            var w = img.width, h = img.height;
            var scale = (orientation > 4 ?
                Math.min(maxHeight / w, maxWidth / h, 1) :
                Math.min(maxWidth / w, maxHeight / h, 1));
            h = Math.round(h * scale);
            w = Math.round(w * scale);

            var canvas = imgToCanvasWithOrientation(img, w, h, orientation);
            canvas.toBlob(function(blob) {
                console.log("Resized image to " + w + "x" + h + ", " + (blob.size >> 10) + "kB");
                callback(blob);
            }, 'image/jpeg', quality);
        });
    };
    img.src = URL.createObjectURL(file);
}

Example usage:

inputfile.onchange = function() {
    // If file size > 500kB, resize such that width <= 1000, quality = 0.9
    reduceFileSize(this.files[0], 500*1024, 1000, Infinity, 0.9, blob => {
        let body = new FormData();
        body.set('file', blob, blob.name || "file.jpg");
        fetch('/upload-image', {method: 'POST', body}).then(...);
    });
};

i improved the function a head to be this :

var minifyImg = function(dataUrl,newWidth,imageType="image/jpeg",resolve,imageArguments=0.7){
    var image, oldWidth, oldHeight, newHeight, canvas, ctx, newDataUrl;
    (new Promise(function(resolve){
      image = new Image(); image.src = dataUrl;
      log(image);
      resolve('Done : ');
    })).then((d)=>{
      oldWidth = image.width; oldHeight = image.height;
      log([oldWidth,oldHeight]);
      newHeight = Math.floor(oldHeight / oldWidth * newWidth);
      log(d+' '+newHeight);

      canvas = document.createElement("canvas");
      canvas.width = newWidth; canvas.height = newHeight;
      log(canvas);
      ctx = canvas.getContext("2d");
      ctx.drawImage(image, 0, 0, newWidth, newHeight);
      //log(ctx);
      newDataUrl = canvas.toDataURL(imageType, imageArguments);
      resolve(newDataUrl);
    });
  };

the use of it :

minifyImg(<--DATAURL_HERE-->,<--new width-->,<--type like image/jpeg-->,(data)=>{
   console.log(data); // the new DATAURL
});

enjoy ;)

For JPG Image compression you can use the best compression technique called JIC (Javascript Image Compression)This will definitely help you -->https://github.com/brunobar79/J-I-C

I find that there's simpler solution compared to the accepted answer.

• Read the files using the HTML5 FileReader API with .readAsArrayBuffer
• Create a Blob with the file data and get its url with window.URL.createObjectURL(blob)
• Create new Image element and set it's src to the file blob url
• Send the image to the canvas. The canvas size is set to desired output size
• Get the scaled-down data back from canvas via canvas.toDataURL("image/jpeg",0.7) (set your own output format and quality)
• Attach new hidden inputs to the original form and transfer the dataURI images basically as normal text
• On backend, read the dataURI, decode from Base64, and save it

As per your question:

Is there a way to compress an image (mostly jpeg, png and gif) directly browser-side, before uploading it

My solution:

1. Create a blob with the file directly with URL.createObjectURL(inputFileElement.files[0]).

2. Same as accepted answer.

3. Same as accepted answer. Worth mentioning that, canvas size is necessary and use img.width and img.height to set canvas.width and canvas.height. Not img.clientWidth.

4. Get the scale-down image by canvas.toBlob(callbackfunction(blob){}, 'image/jpeg', 0.5). Setting 'image/jpg' has no effect. image/png is also supported. Make a new File object inside the callbackfunction body with let compressedImageBlob = new File([blob]).

5. Add new hidden inputs or send via javascript . Server doesn't have to decode anything.

Check https://javascript.info/binary for all information. I came up the solution after reading this chapter.

Code:

    <!DOCTYPE html>
    <html>
    <body>
    <form action="upload.php" method="post" enctype="multipart/form-data">
      Select image to upload:
      <input type="file" name="fileToUpload" id="fileToUpload" multiple>
      <input type="submit" value="Upload Image" name="submit">
    </form>
    </body>
    </html>

This code looks far less scary than the other answers..

Update:

One has to put everything inside img.onload. Otherwise canvas will not be able to get the image's width and height correctly as the time canvas is assigned.

    function upload(){
        var f = fileToUpload.files[0];
        var fileName = f.name.split('.')[0];
        var img = new Image();
        img.src = URL.createObjectURL(f);
        img.onload = function(){
            var canvas = document.createElement('canvas');
            canvas.width = img.width;
            canvas.height = img.height;
            var ctx = canvas.getContext('2d');
            ctx.drawImage(img, 0, 0);
            canvas.toBlob(function(blob){
                    console.info(blob.size);
                    var f2 = new File([blob], fileName + ".jpeg");
                    var xhr = new XMLHttpRequest();
                    var form = new FormData();
                    form.append("fileToUpload", f2);
                    xhr.open("POST", "upload.php");
                    xhr.send(form);
            }, 'image/jpeg', 0.5);
        }
    }

3.4MB .png file compression test with image/jpeg argument set.

    |0.9| 777KB |
    |0.8| 383KB |
    |0.7| 301KB |
    |0.6| 251KB |
    |0.5| 219kB |

I had an issue with the downscaleImage() function posted above by @daniel-allen-langdon in that the image.width and image.height properties are not available immediately because the image load is asynchronous.

Please see updated TypeScript example below that takes this into account, uses async functions, and resizes the image based on the longest dimension rather than just the width

function getImage(dataUrl: string): Promise<HTMLImageElement> 
{
    return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
        const image = new Image();
        image.src = dataUrl;
        image.onload = () => {
            resolve(image);
        };
        image.onerror = (el: any, err: ErrorEvent) => {
            reject(err.error);
        };
    });
}

export async function downscaleImage(
        dataUrl: string,  
        imageType: string,  // e.g. 'image/jpeg'
        resolution: number,  // max width/height in pixels
        quality: number   // e.g. 0.9 = 90% quality
    ): Promise<string> {

    // Create a temporary image so that we can compute the height of the image.
    const image = await getImage(dataUrl);
    const oldWidth = image.naturalWidth;
    const oldHeight = image.naturalHeight;
    console.log('dims', oldWidth, oldHeight);

    const longestDimension = oldWidth > oldHeight ? 'width' : 'height';
    const currentRes = longestDimension == 'width' ? oldWidth : oldHeight;
    console.log('longest dim', longestDimension, currentRes);

    if (currentRes > resolution) {
        console.log('need to resize...');

        // Calculate new dimensions
        const newSize = longestDimension == 'width'
            ? Math.floor(oldHeight / oldWidth * resolution)
            : Math.floor(oldWidth / oldHeight * resolution);
        const newWidth = longestDimension == 'width' ? resolution : newSize;
        const newHeight = longestDimension == 'height' ? resolution : newSize;
        console.log('new width / height', newWidth, newHeight);

        // Create a temporary canvas to draw the downscaled image on.
        const canvas = document.createElement('canvas');
        canvas.width = newWidth;
        canvas.height = newHeight;

        // Draw the downscaled image on the canvas and return the new data URL.
        const ctx = canvas.getContext('2d')!;
        ctx.drawImage(image, 0, 0, newWidth, newHeight);
        const newDataUrl = canvas.toDataURL(imageType, quality);
        return newDataUrl;
    }
    else {
        return dataUrl;
    }

}

Edit: As per the Mr Me comment on this answer, it looks like compression is now available for JPG/WebP formats ( see https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/HTMLCanvasElement/toDataURL ).

As far as I know, you cannot compress images using canvas, instead, you can resize it. Using canvas.toDataURL will not let you choose the compression ratio to use. You can take a look at canimage that does exactly what you want : https://github.com/nfroidure/CanImage/blob/master/chrome/canimage/content/canimage.js

In fact, it's often sufficient to just resize the image to decrease it's size but if you want to go further, you'll have to use newly introduced method file.readAsArrayBuffer to get a buffer containing the image data.

Then, just use a DataView to read it's content according to the image format specification (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JPEG or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portable_Network_Graphics).

It'll be hard to deal with image data compression, but it is worse a try. On the other hand, you can try to delete the PNG headers or the JPEG exif data to make your image smaller, it should be easier to do so.

You'll have to create another DataWiew on another buffer and fill it with the filtered image content. Then, you'll just have to encode you're image content to DataURI using window.btoa.

Let me know if you implement something similar, will be interesting to go through the code.

You can take a look at image-conversion,Try it here --> demo page