Optimize Uploaded Images with PHP (JPEG)

Optimizing JPEG images during the upload process is vital for enhancing website performance and conserving storage. Here’s a comprehensive guide to help you achieve this with PHP.

✅ Step 1: Handle File Upload

Ensure your PHP script can handle the file upload. For example, use an HTML form for uploading the image.

<form action="upload.php" method="post" enctype="multipart/form-data">
  Select image to upload:
  <input type="file" name="image" accept="image/jpeg">
  <input type="submit" value="Upload Image">
</form>

✅ Step 2: Process the Uploaded Image

In your upload.php file, handle the file and perform validation.

if ($_FILES['image']['error'] === UPLOAD_ERR_OK) {
    $tempPath = $_FILES['image']['tmp_name'];
    $outputPath = 'uploads/optimized.jpg';

    // Load the image
    $image = imagecreatefromjpeg($tempPath);

    // Set compression quality (0-100)
    $quality = 75;

    // Save the optimized image
    imagejpeg($image, $outputPath, $quality);

    // Free up memory
    imagedestroy($image);

    echo "Image uploaded and optimized successfully.";
} else {
    echo "File upload error.";
}

✅ Step 3: Set Proper File Permissions

Ensure the uploads/ directory has the appropriate write permissions so PHP can save the optimized image.

chmod 755 uploads/

✅ Step 4: Prevent Overwriting and Rename Files

You can add a unique identifier to the filename to avoid overwriting.

$uniqueName = 'uploads/' . uniqid() . '.jpg';
imagejpeg($image, $uniqueName, $quality);

✅ Step 5: Resize the Image (Optional)

Resizing can further reduce the file size.

$newWidth = 800;
list($width, $height) = getimagesize($tempPath);
$newHeight = ($height / $width) * $newWidth;
$resizedImage = imagecreatetruecolor($newWidth, $newHeight);
imagecopyresampled($resizedImage, $image, 0, 0, 0, 0, $newWidth, $newHeight, $width, $height);
imagejpeg($resizedImage, $outputPath, $quality);
imagedestroy($resizedImage);

Conclusion

By following these steps, you can effectively optimize JPEG images during upload with PHP, reducing file sizes while maintaining quality. This approach improves loading times and saves storage space.