How to Fix Pixelated or Blurry Compressed Photos
Pixelation and blocking in compressed photos comes from over-compression — the quality was set too low for the image dimensions and content. Once a photo is compressed and saved, those artefacts are baked in. This guide explains how to prevent it in future, and what options exist to partially recover quality from an already-degraded image.
Quick Answer
Pixelation and blocking in compressed photos comes from over-compression — the quality was set too low for the image dimensions and content. Once a photo is compressed and saved, those artefacts are baked in.
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Step-by-Step Guide
5 steps · takes under 1 minute
Prevention: use 80% quality minimum
Pixelation appears when JPG quality drops below 60–65% for photos. At 80%, compression is aggressive but artefacts are invisible. At 70%, they become visible on close inspection. At 60% and below, blocking becomes obvious even at normal viewing distances.
Work from the original, not from a compressed copy
If you have the original uncompressed file (RAW, TIFF, or 95%+ JPG), recompress from it at a higher quality. Once compressed, that quality loss is mathematically irreversible — but the original still contains the full detail.
Use AI upscaling to partially recover lost detail
Tools like Topaz Gigapixel AI, Let's Enhance, Waifu2x (free, for anime/illustrated content), or Adobe Lightroom's AI denoise can use machine learning to synthesise plausible detail. Results vary — they work best on moderate compression and less well on severe pixelation.
Use our Upscale tool to increase resolution
The ImgToolkit Upscale tool uses bicubic interpolation to increase resolution by 2× or 4×. This doesn't add real detail, but it smooths out blocky pixelation through resampling, which can make severely compressed images look less obviously degraded.
Convert to WebP for future compression
WebP's compression algorithm produces fewer artefacts than JPG at equivalent quality settings. For future compressions, switch to WebP — the same visual quality threshold requires 25–35% less file size, or conversely, the same file size gives you noticeably better quality.
Before vs After Compression
Typical result on a 1080×1080px product photo
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Pro tip
Use 75–85% quality for web images — you get 60–80% smaller files with no visible difference at normal screen sizes.
Format & File Size Comparison
Same 1080×1080px photo processed four ways
| Format | Quality | File Size | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| PNG (original) | Perfect | 4.2 MB | No compression — too large for web |
| Compressed PNG | Visually identical | 1.1 MB | −74% — transparency preserved |
| JPG (85% quality) | Excellent | 310 KB | −93% · Best for photos |
| WebP (85%)BEST | Excellent | 205 KB | −95% · Recommended for web |
Based on a 1080×1080px photo. Results vary by image content and complexity.
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