There’s no shortage of things we can do with images on the internet. We can scan them, edit them, save them, and print them, but sometimes we run into issues because not all JPG files are the same file size.

If you noticed an image taking up way more space than it should, that can cause problems when it’s time to export. There are several reasons why this happens, and thankfully, plenty of ways to fix them.

What Causes Image Files to Be Such Large Sizes?

You have your image exactly how you want it, but when you look at the file size you notice something is wrong. File size can be a huge issue because not everyone has space for such large files, and sometimes when you want to upload an image, there are size limits that could go beyond your files.

Here’s what causes files to be such large sizes. As you can see, there are a lot of factors that go into it that we may not even notice, but once you isolate your issue, it should be an easy fix. Sometimes you can fix these issues yourself, or you can use online design sites like Placeit to take care of creating images for you.

1. You Scanned an Uncompressed Image

To go into greater detail, here’s one reason why your file size is so huge. It could be because you used a scanner to get your image, and the scan was an uncompressed file format.

To fix this, simply scan your images at a lower DPI, or resolution, and if that doesn’t work, you can open an image editing software like paint, and crop away any blank space.

2. You Saved an Uncompressed Image Online

Following that, the explanation might be that you saved an image online, but the file size was way larger than you were expecting.

This is the outcome of certain websites and images online hosting uncompressed images that are shrunken for view on their display. So an image might appear small to you, but be huge actually.

Fortunately, this is a simple fix too. You can re save the image at a lower resolution using an image editor or see if the website has a lower resolution option available, like an icon of the same image or a link in another page.

3. You Took High Quality Photos from a Camera

Following that, the explanation might be you took your photos from a nice camera. These days, even the cameras on our phones can capture photos and videos at stunningly high resolutions.

This unfortunately means that the file size has to grow in tandem. Luckily, we have options on our phones and cameras to adjust the resolution of images we take, and we can even send photos at resolutions other than ones that were taken.

4. The Image is Too Detailed

Sometimes, images can be different file sizes based on what is in them. Colors, details, and more factors can change what determines the file size. Basically, the more inside an image, the more that is taken into account when the image is saved.

To get around this, you could open an image editing software and adjust the image to meet a lower file size. Sometimes it’ll be as simple as saving the same image in a different resolution, but sometimes you may have to play with the compression tools to get it down.

5. You Saved the Wrong Resolution

What if the image was one you created yourself? One explanation might be that you accidently saved the image at the wrong resolution. It’s an easy mistake to make especially if you have to enter the resolution manually.

If you were expecting an image to be 1920×1080 but got 1920×10080, that could definitely cause a huge disaster in how the image looks, and how much space the image takes up.

6. You Found an Image Not Meant to be Saved

On a website there are often different variations of the same image. This could be a news website or a blog that has the image as a header or banner, and then uses the same image in the article itself.

Similar to the example above about saving uncompressed images, a website will often have images that serve different purposes, and you might have saved one not intended for sharing and you may have downloaded the wrong one.

The good news is that variations of those images that are meant to be saved and shared can often be found on those websites as well. Sometimes sites will have press kits that contain their images at different file sizes and resolutions or will specifically link ways to share the post.

7. You Set the Wrong Measurements

More advanced tools like Photoshop will allow users to adjust the size of their images in different ways, such as inches or centimeters. This can be a handy trick in getting pics the exact size you want them to be but can also mess you up if you accidently use the wrong unit.

An image that is 5 inches by 5 inches is certainly going to be a different file size than one that is 5 feet by 5 feet, so if you notice your image is unnaturally large, it may be as simple as the wrong unit of measurement.

Final Thoughts

That’s all there is to it, on the surface none of the reasons are particularly hard to fix and we can understand why they come up and what goes into saving images and how their file sizes are determined.

Sometimes, not all files are created equal even if they look the exact same. Sometimes, this is due to the way the image is structured. Other times, it’s because of where you received the image from.

Trying to get the right size for your files can be a little tricky, but with a little bit of patience, you can get your images exactly how they should be.