How to compress an image via Javascript in the browser?

Question

In short:

• 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

Source: code.

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(...);
    });
};

@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.

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

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;
    }

}

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 |