image compression

Image compression is basically minimizing the size of a graphic files in bytes without degrading the quality of the image to an unacceptable level. The reduction in file size allows more images to be stored in a given amount of disk or memory space. It also reduces the time required for images to be sent over the Internet or downloaded from Web pages.
A series of different ways in which image files can be compressed For Internet use include many formats , the two most common compressed graphic image formats are the JPEG format and the GIF format. The JPEG method is more often used for photographs, while the GIF method is commonly used for line art and other images in which geometric shapes are relatively simple.
    Other techniques for image compression include the use of fractals and wavelets. These methods have not gained widespread acceptance for use on the Internet as of this writing. However, both methods offer promise because they offer higher compression ratios than the JPEG or GIF methods for some types of images. Another new method that may in time replace the GIF format is the PNG format.
NB: i love png for its ability to carry transperency of an image
A text file or program can be compressed without the introduction of errors, but only up to a certain extent. This is called lossless compression. Beyond this point, errors are introduced. In text and program files, it is crucial that compression be lossless because a single error can seriously damage the meaning of a text file, or cause a program not to run. In image compression, a small loss in quality is usually not noticeable. There is no "critical point" up to which compression works perfectly, but beyond which it becomes impossible. When there is some tolerance for loss, the compression factor can be greater than it can when there is no loss tolerance. For this reason, graphic images can be compressed more than text files or programs.
basically all this is attributed to :http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/image-compression

Lossy and lossless Image compression

Image compression may be lossy or lossless. Lossless compression is preferred for archival purposes and often for medical imaging, technical drawings, clip art, or comics. Lossy compression methods, especially when used at low bit rates, introduce compression artifacts. Lossy methods are especially suitable for natural images such as photographs in applications where minor (sometimes imperceptible) loss of fidelity is acceptable to achieve a substantial reduction in bit rate. Lossy compression that produces negligible differences may be called visually lossless.
Methods for lossless image compression are:

• Run-length encoding – used in default method in PCX and as one of possible in BMP, TGA, TIFF
• Area image compression
• DPCM and Predictive Coding
• Entropy encoding
• Adaptive dictionary algorithms such as LZW – used in GIF and TIFF
• Deflation – used in PNG, MNG, and TIFF
• Chain codes

Methods for lossy compression:

• Reducing the color space to the most common colors in the image. The selected colors are specified in the color palette in the header of the compressed image. Each pixel just references the index of a color in the color palette, this method can be combined with dithering to avoid posterization.
• Chroma subsampling. This takes advantage of the fact that the human eye perceives spatial changes of brightness more sharply than those of color, by averaging or dropping some of the chrominance information in the image.
• Transform coding. This is the most commonly used method. In particular, a Fourier-related transform such as the Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT) is widely used: N. Ahmed, T. Natarajan and K.R.Rao, "Discrete Cosine Transform," IEEE Trans. Computers, 90-93, Jan. 1974. The DCT is sometimes referred to as "DCT-II" in the context of a family of discrete cosine transforms; e.g., see discrete cosine transform. The more recently developed wavelet transform is also used extensively, followed by quantization and entropy coding.
• Fractal compression.

Other properties

The best image quality at a given bit-rate (or compression rate) is the main goal of image compression, however, there are other important properties of image compression schemes:
Scalability generally refers to a quality reduction achieved by manipulation of the bitstream or file (without decompression and re-compression). Other names for scalability are progressive coding or embedded bitstreams. Despite its contrary nature, scalability also may be found in lossless codecs, usually in form of coarse-to-fine pixel scans. Scalability is especially useful for previewing images while downloading them (e.g., in a web browser) or for providing variable quality access to e.g., databases. There are several types of scalability:

• Quality progressive or layer progressive: The bitstream successively refines the reconstructed image.
• Resolution progressive: First encode a lower image resolution; then encode the difference to higher resolutions.
• Component progressive: First encode grey; then color.

Region of interest coding. Certain parts of the image are encoded with higher quality than others. This may be combined with scalability (encode these parts first, others later).
Meta information. Compressed data may contain information about the image which may be used to categorize, search, or browse images. Such information may include color and texture statistics, small preview images, and author or copyright information.
Processing power. Compression algorithms require different amounts of processing power to encode and decode. Some high compression algorithms require high processing power.
The quality of a compression method often is measured by the Peak signal-to-noise ratio. It measures the amount of noise introduced through a lossy compression of the image, however, the subjective judgment of the viewer also is regarded as an important measure, perhaps, being the most important measure.

According to Wikipedia.



many softwares do support these file compression and some of them include:
format factory
Photoshop
illustrator
photoscape
photoshine
to mention but a few.