PixelForgeImage Data Studio
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Color & Pixel

Reduce Color Palette

Reduce colors to shrink PNG size.

Drop PNG to reduce color palette

Supports JPG, PNG, WebP, HEIC, TIFF and more · Max 40 MB MB

What is Reduce Color Palette?

Reduce colors to shrink PNG size. Posterize images down to 2–256 colors for retro or file-size wins. Pixel art preparation, GIF/PNG-8 size reduction, stylized poster looks. A posterized version using an optimized palette.

All processing happens locally in your browser. Your images are never uploaded to any server.

Key Features

  • Median-cut algorithm for perceptually good palettes
  • Dithering option (Floyd– Steinberg) for smoother bands
  • 1-bit (b/w) up to 256 colors

Common Use Cases

  • Reducing color count in PNG images to shrink file size for the web
  • Converting photos to indexed-color mode for a retro or limited-palette look
  • Optimizing GIF animations and sprite sheets by limiting their color palette
User Guide

How to use this tool

The Reduce Color Palette tool quantizes an image down to a limited number of colors per channel. This dramatically shrinks PNG file sizes, produces stylized retro looks, and creates images that compress more predictably in downstream lossless codecs.

How to use it

Drop an image onto the upload zone. The Levels slider controls how many discrete values are allowed per RGB channel. At 64 levels the image looks essentially untouched but PNG files shrink by 10–0%. At 8 levels the image acquires a strong poster-print aesthetic and PNGs typically shrink by 40–0%.

Compare the source and quantized outputs. When the visual quality vs file size balance is right, download the reduced-palette PNG.

  • Levels slider from 2 (extreme) to 64 (subtle)
  • Per-channel quantization: R, G and B are treated identically
  • Preserves alpha transparency
  • Massive file-size savings for PNG assets

When palette reduction helps

Palette reduction shines on illustrated content, flat vector-style artwork, and screenshots of text-heavy UIs — anywhere the image has fewer than a hundred distinctive colors already. Photographs typically lose too much fidelity below 16 levels per channel.

For icon libraries and simple diagrams, running this tool after export usually produces PNG files 30–0% smaller than the artist tool default, with no visible degradation.

Frequently Asked Questions

Should I use dithering?

Dithering hides banding on gradients but adds noise; keep it off for pixel art / flat graphics.

How small does PNG get?

Going from 16M to 16 colors often halves PNG size — re-save with Lossless PNG after.

How many colors should I target?

For logos and icons, 16–64 colors are usually plenty. For photos, 128–256 colors maintain good appearance. Fewer colors always mean smaller files.

Does palette reduction support transparency?

Yes. A single transparent color is preserved in the output palette. Semi-transparent pixels may be dithered to either fully transparent or opaque.

What dithering options are available?

Choose between no dithering (banding but smaller), Floyd-Steinberg dithering (smooth gradients), or ordered dithering (retro look).

Is this tool free to use?

Yes. This tool is completely free with no sign-up, no watermarks, and no daily limits. All processing runs locally in your browser.

Is dithering applied?

No. The tool uses simple rounded quantization for clean posterized results.

How is this different from Pixelate?

Pixelate reduces spatial resolution; this tool reduces color resolution. They can be combined for classic 8-bit looks.

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