Colour of images dull and muted after compression

  • Resolved 368durham

    (@368durham)


    8 months, 1 week ago

    Hello,

    I’m running into an issue with several websites currently where JPG and PNG images after being compressed appear washed out and grey.

    I’ve confirmed the issue by taking the following steps:

    • Bulk restoring images (they appear correctly afterwards)
    • Reuploading the image and running compression on it manually
    • Converting the images to png and jpg prior to upload.

    The issue appears to happen on both JPG and PNG. I can also confirm it has happened on two different websites located on two different servers.

    Here are some examples:

    The image below is a PNG, and on the right side (the web side) you can notice the washed out colours in the face and lips.

    The above image has a similar result. This image is a JPG prior to uploading. I originally thought the issue may be related to this – https://shortpixel.com/knowledge-base/article/why-the-colors-of-my-png-image-look-washed-out-after-optimization/ but it appears to happen regardless of the image format.

    Please advise.

Viewing 6 replies - 1 through 6 (of 6 total)
  • Gerard Blanco

    (@sixaxis)

    8 months, 1 week ago

    Hi 368durham,

    Most probably this is caused by the color space. Could you please have a look at this article? https://shortpixel.com/knowledge-base/article/loss-of-color-and-saturation-when-uploading-images-to-wordpress/

    Thanks!

    Thread Starter 368durham

    (@368durham)

    8 months, 1 week ago

    Hi Gerard,

    Thank you for the information. I will investigate.

    Just to confirm though – this issue doesn’t happen when an image is uploaded to WordPress but only when processed with Shortpixel.

    If the image is uploaded, and shortpixel disabled (or not automatically processed) the image is fine.

    Thread Starter 368durham

    (@368durham)

    8 months, 1 week ago

    @sixaxis Okay so I’ve spent a chunk of this afternoon looking into this issue and I have confirmed the issue is 100% with shortpixel. I do not believe this issue is resolved.

    Here is an image exported for web on WordPress (not sRGB & not compressed by Shortpixel) – exportedforweb.png (1781×2212)

    The same image with Shortpixel Compression –
    exportedforweb-1.png (1781×2212)

    The colours only shift when shortpixel is run. I’ve also tested it with other compression plugins and have not seen the same issue.

    Here is a screenshot showing the compression within the WP panel

    Any suggestions? Shortpixel has been a part of my workflow for so long I’m hoping this can be an easy fix.

    • This reply was modified 8 months, 1 week ago by 368durham.
    Plugin Support Adrian

    (@adrianrus)

    8 months, 1 week ago

    Hello again, thank you for all the details.

    And thank you for using ShortPixel 🙂

    You correctly identified the issue with the PNG picture (and the article mentioned in your initial message). Is there any particular reason why you would want to have this picture as a PNG as opposed to JPEG? https://www.olivesandgrains.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/exportedforweb.png I ask because the image is 3.5MB as opposed to probably ~200KB in JPEG.

    But this doesn’t explain why you’d have the same problem with a JPEG image – unless it was originally a PNG, was optimized as such, and then converted to JPEG.

    In a nutshell, I’d suggest:

    Try selecting the option to convert PNG to JPEG in ShortPixel Image Optimizer – this should solve the problem with altered colors and also dramatically reduce the image size.

    Please try contacting us directly with an example of a JPEG image that had its colors altered after optimization so we can reproduce this on our side and figure out a solution. Thank you

    Thread Starter 368durham

    (@368durham)

    8 months, 1 week ago

    Hello,

    I’ve tested with an exported JPEG and the colours seem to be okay. It just seems like PNGs are the problem.

    Using the Shortpixel converting to JPEG seems to keep the colours in tact. It won’t help with transparent images but I guess I’ll need to adjust my workflow to work around this bug.

    Plugin Support Adrian

    (@adrianrus)

    8 months, 1 week ago

    We’re glad to hear everything works well with JPEG! 🙂

    For these types of photos, we generally recommend using JPEG, as it offers a great balance between quality and file size. PNG is typically better suited for logos and graphics due to its support for transparency and sharper edges, but it’s not so good for normal images/photos.

Viewing 6 replies - 1 through 6 (of 6 total)

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