Guietzli Portable

You may have heard of Google's new, open-source JPEG encoder released a little while back dubbed Guetzli. Google claims that the algorithm powering this encoder is capable of shrinking your images up to 35%, without significant quality loss.

However, Guietzli being a command line tool and all, it's safe to say that it's not exactly perfectly tailored for all types of users. However, fret not, you can still get a taste of Google's new encoder thanks to a third-party app with the same name.

Even better, there's also a portable version called Guietzli Portable which should offer you a bit more versatility and ultimately make things even simpler, since it does not require installation.

However, before you get started, please note that this practical Guietzli GUI does require the presence of .NET Framework 3.5 on your computer's system in order to run. Since we're on the subject, it's also worth pointing out that the app may automatically download the latest version of Guietzli command line tool when you run the encoding process for the first time, without requiring any type of attention on your part.

With its borderline-barren UI, it's really no surprise that using this app is a hassle-free experience. Start off by loading the images using the "Add Files" button or via intuitive drag and drop gestures. Continue by choosing the output folder and the encoding quality via the easy-to-operate slider. The default image quality value is 84, but you can easily turn it all the way up to 110.

All that's left to do now is to press the "Start" button, and depending on the size of your source images and their number, you may be required to have a bit of patience. As we're sure you'll discover, Google's encoder is not exactly the fastest or the most resource-friendly tool of this sort out there, but that's the price you must to be willing to pay if you want quality encoding.

Guietzli is a pretty useful and widely accessible JPEG encoder and should definitely be on the list of possible candidates if you're currently looking for tools such as this. If not for its utter user-friendliness, then at least for the fact that's powered by a Google-developed encoding engine.