Images are one of the most important parts of any website. Good image editing is essential to ensure that images not only look good, but also load quickly. There are many WordPress plugins that have been specially developed for image editing and image optimization. They make it possible to edit images directly in the WordPress media library.

In this article, we present five of these WordPress plugins and explain how you can use them to optimize and improve the images on your website. So that your WordPress website offers the best possible performance. See also our e-book Making WordPress faster with other important tools.

What are WordPress plugins for image editing and optimization?

WordPress plugins are extensions that can be integrated into the content management system (CMS) and have been specially developed for use within WordPress. They enable all users to edit, optimize and manage images within the CMS. 

Other image editing programs, such as Adobe Photoshop, Figma or GIMP, are separate applications that can be installed on the user's computer and used independently of a CMS. 

These programs usually offer a more extensive range of editing functions and tools. However, inexperienced users usually require a significantly longer training period and the application is often more complicated than with WordPress plugins.

What problems can arise if I do not optimize images on the website?

If you don't optimize the images on your website, this can lead to some problems:

• Longer loading times: Unoptimized images often have a larger file size and therefore take longer to load. This can affect the loading time of the entire website and cause visitors to leave the website before it has even loaded.
• High data consumption: More data is consumed if your images are unoptimized. This can be expensive for visitors who access the website via a mobile connection.
• Search engine optimization: Search engines such as Google take into account the loading times of a website when determining its ranking. If a website is slow, this can therefore lead to a lower ranking in the search results.
• Poor user experience: A website with slow loading times and unoptimized images can be unpleasant for visitors. There is a high probability that they will not recommend the website to others or visit it again.
• Waste of server resources: Unoptimized images require more storage space and computing power. This can lead to the server being overloaded and the website becoming slower.

So as you can see, it's important to optimize the images on your website to avoid these issues and improve the user experience.

5 WordPress plugins for image editing

Below we present five well-known WordPress plugins for editing and optimizing images.

1st WP Smush

WP Smush is one of the WordPress plugins designed to automatically optimize the image size and improve the loading time of your website. It removes unnecessary metadata from image files and compresses them without affecting the quality. The plugin supports the optimization of JPEG, PNG and GIF images. It can also optimize multiple images at the same time and offers a simple method for optimizing images that have already been uploaded.

WP Smush is a very useful tool that can reduce page load time and thus improve the user experience. The speed of a page is an important factor for search engine optimization (SEO), as search engines consider the loading time of the page as a ranking factor. 

The plugin is easy to use, it can be used on any page and it is available free of charge. If you want, you can also use the Pro version of the plugin, which offers additional functions such as the optimization of larger images or the option of optimizing several images at once.

2. EWWW Image Optimizer

EWWW Image Optimizer automatically optimizes images to shorten the loading time of your website and save storage space. It supports the optimization of JPEG, PNG, GIF and PDF files.

The plugin uses various techniques to reduce the image size without affecting the quality. It also offers the option of optimizing images that have already been uploaded, even with several images at once. Another useful feature of the EWWW Image Optimizer is the ability to optimize images in the cloud. The optimization can be performed on another server, which can further reduce the loading time of your website.

EWWW Image Optimizer is a very useful tool for anyone running a website. It can reduce the loading time of your site, improve the user experience and helps with search engine optimization. The plugin is easy to use, but there is also a Pro version that offers additional features such as optimizing larger images or the ability to optimize multiple images at once.

3. imsanity

Imsanity automatically limits the size of uploaded images and the images that exceed the specified size are automatically scaled. This can help to save disk space on the server and improve the loading times of the website, as smaller images can be loaded more quickly. 

The plugin also allows you to set the maximum size for different image types, such as header images, post images and gallery images, independently. It also supports the conversion of images to JPG format, which is a good choice for most applications as it offers a good compression rate and quality.

Overall, Imsanity is a useful plugin for those who want to limit the size of uploaded images and improve the performance of their WordPress website.

4. regenerate thumbnails

Regenerate Thumbnails is a WordPress plugin that allows you to regenerate the size of thumbnails used by WordPress to display images in posts, pages and galleries. This is useful if you want to change the size of the thumbnails to better fit your design or if you have changed the theme of your website and the thumbnails no longer match the correct dimensions.

With Regenerate Thumbnails, you can select individual or multiple images and regenerate the thumbnail sizes. There is also the option to regenerate all thumbnails in a specific folder. The plugin also creates backup images before regenerating the thumbnails to ensure that no data is lost.

Regenerate Thumbnails is a useful tool for anyone who wants to change the size of the thumbnails in their WordPress website, allowing them to display the images in the correct size and improve the performance of the website. It is easy to use and very useful to regenerate the thumbnails after changing the theme or design requirements.

5. image watermark

Image Watermark allows you to automatically add a watermark (a text or image overlay) to images to protect them from unauthorized use. With this plugin, you can add a watermark by uploading either a text or an image and placing it anywhere on the image. There is also the option to adjust the transparency, font, font color and font size of the text watermark.

The plugin also supports applying watermarks to different image types, such as header images, post images and gallery images, independently of each other. It also allows to automatically apply the watermark to already uploaded images and it is possible to apply the watermark to specific image sizes.

Overall, Image Watermark is a useful plugin for anyone who wants to protect their images from unauthorized use. It is easy to use and allows you to customize the watermark to your own requirements. By automatically applying the watermark to images that have already been uploaded, it also saves time and makes it easier to manage the images on the website.

Conclusion: Improve your website with WordPress plugins

There are many good WordPress image editing plugins that allow you to quickly and easily optimize the images on your website. These plugins offer features such as automating image optimization, processing multiple images at once, and the ability to maintain the quality of the image while reducing the size. Some of these plugins also offer preview features so you can see what the optimized image will look like before you add it to your website. 

Overall, the plugins presented are an uncomplicated way to improve the loading time of your website and make the images more appealing to your visitors. It's worth trying out different ones and choosing the ones that best suit your website's requirements. See also our article: Optimizing images for WordPress: 6 popular image compression plugins.