Lossy compression

A digital process that reduces the number of bits in an image to reduce the file size. The benefit is that it takes less storage space and can be e-mailed quicker. There are two types of compression – Lossy which permanently loses detail and Lossless that returns all the data. JPEG lossy compression is the common method for digital imaging and can be adjusted to offer low compression which maintains most of the quality or higher compression which starts to affect image quality.

Standard method of image data compression used to reduce the file size of digital images. It's known as lossy compression because there is a permanent loss of some data during the process.