It’s Time to Lighten the Load: Smart Imaging Reduces Image Sizes by 30% or More

Digital graphs and hexagon grids with abstract high speed technology POV motion blur

Image source: Adobe Stock / Tierney.

We all know that slow page load time leads to site abandonment, which can lead to loss of revenue. And we know images are the main culprit — they constitute the majority of the page weight and load time. Right now, with all consumer activity having moved online, no one can afford lagging page load times on their website, mobile site, or app. Making customers wait is a surefire way to lose those sought-after dollars.

This is the perfect time to look into Smart Imaging — a hidden treasure in Dynamic Media and Dynamic Media Classic that improves page performance like nothing else.

“Enabling Smart Imaging was a simple process of changing the subdomain used to serve our images. Graphics are a large percentage of our site bandwidth, and we were able to significantly improve web performance with a small time investment.”

William Davis Sr. Application Developer Overland

Why smart imaging?

You have your favorite browser, but it turns out browsers also have preferences — each is optimized for specific file formats. Here’s the breakout of browser and the file format for which it is optimized:

Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Edge, Android, Opera: WebP
Safari: JPEG2000
Internet Explorer 9+: JPEG

If you are not already using Smart Imaging, you are probably requesting JPEG images because they are supported by all the browsers. Simple, right? But because you aren’t using the most optimized image possible, it slows the page down. Smart Imaging is able to detect the client browser and automatically deliver the best image format, size, and quality for that browser, and decrease the image size of every image on the page by 30% or more.

Voilà! You get improved experiences, increased conversion rates, and increased revenue.

Of course, your IT team could try to write their own code to achieve this, but why would you when you already have access to Smart Imaging whether you’re using Dynamic Media or Dynamic Media Classic?

Ready for the next step?

Ready to start? Smart Imaging is included in every Dynamic Media Classic license. You can turn it on by contacting customer support and checking out these important steps. There are two prerequisites:

Since Smart Imaging is associated with a specific domain, your domain must be unique. If you’re using scene7.com or the like, you’ll need to change it.
You must be using Adobe’s Content Delivery Network (CDN).

Already using Smart Imaging, but wonder if it is optimized?

Ask your Adobe Customer Success Manager (CSM) for a free audit or email us now to find out. Adobe’s experts will review your implementation and recommend settings that will deliver better image quality and performance.

Not sure whether you should take the step?

Read the latest documentation to learn more about Smart Imaging and watch this recording of our recent smart imaging webinar for an even deeper dive into how to use Dynamic Media and Dynamic Media Classic for optimal page performance.

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