Configuring optimized images in Magento 2

Running a Magento store can be difficult—configuring the server, creating store views, and adding categories and products. Everyone knows that every product needs at least one product image. In some setups, we even have more than one. From this single master image, multiple thumbs are created, such as base image, small image, swatch image, and thumbnail.

By default, images are not optimized for the web when saving them in Photoshop. Images shown on a website are not exactly the same as images for print. The Exchangeable Image File (EXIF) data, for example, is not needed, and by removing this metadata, you can save lots of bytes. The smaller the image, the faster it's shown in the browser of the customer.

Here is an example of EXIF data (not optimized). The current file size is 620,888 bytes:

EXIF Data

File:
  ExifByteOrder: Big-endian (Motorola, MM)
  CurrentIPTCDigest: 50bb6030364fbdfb1842e98de0e81efe
  ImageWidth: 1024
  ImageHeight: 768
  EncodingProcess...