Lossy compression is a digital image-compression method in which some image data (pixels) is discarded to reduce file size. Formats like JPEG allow users to choose the level of compression: higher compression reduces file size but removes more image detail, while lower compression retains more detail at the expense of larger files.
Understanding lossy compression is important for photographers, web designers, and digital content creators who need to balance image quality with storage and bandwidth efficiency. It is commonly used for web images, social media, and email, where smaller file sizes are essential, but careful management is needed to avoid visible degradation of image quality.