Python Batch Image Reduction Script

A robust Python script to bulk compress and resize images within a directory.

This tool is designed to drastically reduce file sizes (often by 90%+) by resizing images to HD standards and applying aggressive web-optimization, without overwriting your original files. Perfect for:

• Web Designers with lots of images to optimise.
• Photographers prepping exports.
• Developers who need a handy CLI tool.

Features

• Smart Resizing: Automatically detects images wider than 1920px and resizes them (maintaining aspect ratio).
• Crash-Proof Conversion: Intelligently handles color modes (automatically converting transparent images to RGB if saving as JPEG) to prevent errors.
• Non-Destructive: Creates a subfolder named fixed containing the processed images. Your originals are untouched.
• Auto-Rotation: Detects vertical photos (via EXIF data) and ensures they remain vertical.
• Web Optimization:
  • JPEGs: Compressed to Quality 65 (Web High) with progressive loading.
  • PNGs: Optimized specifically to preserve transparency where needed.
  • Metadata: Strips EXIF/Camera data to save space.

Prerequisites

• Python 3.x
• Pillow Library

Installation

1. Clone this repository or download batch_image_reduction.py.
2. Install the required image library:

pip install Pillow

Usage

• Run the Script:

python batch_image_reduction.py

• A Window Will Pop-Up: Select the folder containing your images.

• Script Runs: The script will process the images and save the optimized versions in a new folder named 'fixed' inside your selected directory.

Configuration

You can easily adjust the settings at the top of the script file:

• MAX_WIDTH = 1920: The maximum width in pixels. Images wider than this will be resized. Set to None to keep original resolution.
• JPEG_QUALITY = 65: The compression level for JPEGs (1-100). Lower is smaller but lower quality.
• OUTPUT_DIRNAME = 'fixed': The name of the output folder.

Limitations

• Recursion: The script only processes the files in the folder you select. It does not look into sub-folders.
• PNG Compression: While the script optimizes PNG structure, it does not convert PNGs to JPEGs (to preserve file names and transparency). If you have massive non-transparent PNGs (like photos saved as PNG), they may not reduce in size significantly.
• TIFF/BMP: These formats are processed for compatibility, but file size savings are minimal unless converted to JPEG (which this script avoids to preserve file extensions).

License

Free, open-source. MIT licensed.