What is WebP? Beginner’s Guide

Many websites started adopting a new image format called WebP. What is WebP and why can it be more beneficial than other image formats?

WebP is a format developed by Google after the acquisition of On2 Technologies. Based on the VP8 video codec, WebP delivers high-quality images at a smaller size than PNG or JPEG. It combines and refines the best qualities of the JPEG and PNG formats by offering advanced lossy and lossless compression.

Optimizing the size of image files is essential to increasing the performance of a site. Using the WebP format does this without sacrificing image quality, making it a suitable format for many website owners.

In this article, you will learn what WebP is, as well as its advantages and disadvantages. We’ll also go over ways to use WebP in WordPress and how to save a WebP file to your computer.

What is WebP?

WebP is an image format that uses lossy and lossless image compression methods to reduce image size while maintaining good quality.

What are the advantages of WebP?

These are the main advantages of using WebP images:

• Increase website performance. WebP format is lighter compared to JPEG and PNG. Smaller image files increase the loading speed of a site.
• Save more bandwidth. Bandwidth is the speed at which your server can transfer data to your end users in a given amount of time. WebP can free up bandwidth space, allowing websites to serve more content. This is especially important for image-heavy websites, such as blogs, or photography.
• Improve search engine optimization (SEO). The increased page speed due to lighter images will positively affect the ranking of the site in search engines like Google.
• Display high-quality images. No need to sacrifice image quality for faster loading speeds. With WebP, you can have the best of both worlds and improve the user experience on your site.
• Display various types of images. WebP supports transparent and animated images.
  To better illustrate the advantages of WebP over other formats like JPEG and PNG, let’s see what the two offer in comparison.

JPEG (or JPG) it is excellent for images with many colors and is the preferred choice for still photos. However, JPEG image files use compression at a loss, which means that the quality will decrease when they are saved or edited again. Another drawback of this format is that it does not support transparency or animation.

On the other hand, the file type PNG is excellent for preserving high image quality thanks to its compression without losses. This format suits images that have a lot of pixels, such as text-heavy infographics. It also supports transparency, making it ideal for web design elements and logos. Unfortunately PNG is usually a larger image size and does not support animations.

WebP has the best qualities of both formats. Most importantly, it offers approximately one file size with an SSIM quality rating equivalent to that of PNG or JPEG.

Take a look at the sample images from Google. The website compares JPEG and WebP images of similar quality.

Click on each image on the site and compare what you see. There is not much difference in quality between the JPEG images on the left and the WebP images on the right. However, WebP files are significantly smaller in size compared to JPEGs.

What are the disadvantages of WebP?

Although there are many benefits to using WebP, there are some drawbacks to be aware of. We are going to go over software-related issues, especially with web browsers.

Although WebP compatibility with major browsers has improved over the years, some browsers still do not support this file type.

Popular browsers like Google Chrome, MozillaFirefox, Opera Y Microsoft Edge have had support for WebP for years. More recently Safari finally too.

Given the current trend, hopefully other browsers that haven’t supported WebP will eventually follow suit, so don’t stop developments.

As for other programs, not all of them support the WebP format. Some viewers and image editing tools cannot open WebP files. For example, Adobe Photoshop does not support it by default. To edit a WebP file in Adobe Photoshop, you need to first install the .

Using WebP Images in WordPress

WordPress introduced support for WebP in WordPress version 5.8 to allow uploading of WebP images to the media library.

go to Media -> Add New and select the WebP files you want to upload. Once you’ve added the images to the media library, check to see if it went smoothly. You can also upload an image when writing a post or editing a page.

However, WordPress WebP support will not automatically convert existing images in the media library to WebP format. Use an image optimization plugin to convert images to WebP when displayed on your website.

is a free image compression plugin for WordPress. Once installed, it can convert existing and future images in your library to WebP. The plugin uses the cloud and a (CDN) to store and transfer your optimized images, saving you even more storage space and bandwidth.

In addition to conversion to WebP, ShortPixel also offers other useful image optimization features like and . Support is available directly from the developers.

ShortPixel’s free plan allows you to compress up to 100 images per month. If you have a lot of images on your site, consider upgrading to one of their . You have the option to purchase monthly plans or one-time credits.

Another plugin that works in a similar way is the . On the free plan, There is not limit in terms of the number of images you can optimize, as long as you have less than 5,000 visits per month. If your monthly visits exceed that limit, consider hiring one of their .

Alternatively, if you’re looking for manual focus, use the . It converts your JPEG and PNG images into any file format you want, including WebP. However, please note that you can only use this API if you use or your self-hosted WordPress site is connected to .

How to save WebP images as JPEG or PNG files

Although WebP is superior to PNG and JPEG in many ways, there are reasons why you might want to save images as JPEG or PNG.

For example, if the graphics software you’re using doesn’t support WebP, you’ll need the JPEG or PNG version of the image. Here are some methods you can try to save WebP images as JPEG or PNG:

• Use another browser. Open the web page that contains the image you want to save using a browser that does not support WebP. The browser will display the JPEG or PNG version of the image and you can save it as usual.
• Use Microsoft Paint. If you’re using Windows, save the WebP image. Then open it in Microsoft Paint. go to File -> Save As. Choose the format you prefer.
• Use an online image conversion tool. Save the WebP image to your computer and convert it online using a tool like CloudConvert.

conclusion

WebP is a new generation image format that improves on its predecessors such as JPEG and PNG. It offers advanced compression technologies that allow you to preserve image quality while reducing file size.

In this article, we have provided ways to resolve issues related to the WebP format. We have explored how to use WebP in WordPress and how to save it as a JPEG or PNG. We hope this article has helped you better understand the WebP format and resolve any issues you may have.

Deyi is a digital marketing enthusiast, with a background in web design, content creation, copywriting, and SEO. She is part of ‘s SEO & Localization team. In her free time, she likes to develop projects, read a book or watch a good movie.