Are your WordPress images slowing down your photography website? If you’re uploading high-resolution photos straight from your camera without resizing them first, you could be hurting your site’s performance.
Those beautiful 6000x4000px images might look stunning, but they can significantly slow down your page load times.
Slow-loading sites frustrate visitors (who might be potential clients) and can tank your search engine rankings. But let’s be honest, manually resizing hundreds of photos is nobody’s idea of a good time.
The good news? You can automate the entire process.
In this guide, I’ll show you how to resize WordPress images automatically using two different methods.
In This Article:
- Why You Should Resize WordPress Images
- What Are Your Options for Resizing WordPress Images?
- How to Automatically Resize Images in WordPress (2 Ways)
- Frequently Asked Questions: Resizing Images in WordPress
Why You Should Resize WordPress Images
Before we dive into the how-to, let’s talk about why resizing images matters for your photography website.
Site Speed and Performance
Large, unoptimized images are the number one cause of slow-loading websites. When you upload a 6000x4000px image straight from your camera, you’re forcing visitors to download a massive file—just to view a photo that displays at a fraction of that size on their screen.
When you have dozens or hundreds of images in galleries, those file sizes add up fast, causing frustratingly slow page loads.
By resizing images to appropriate dimensions for web display (typically 1200-2000px wide), you dramatically reduce file sizes without sacrificing visual quality. This means faster load times and a better experience for your visitors.
SEO Benefits
Google and other search engines use site speed as a ranking factor. Slow-loading websites rank lower in search results, which means fewer people will find your work. By optimizing your images through resizing, you’re not just improving user experience—you’re also boosting your chances of ranking higher in search results and attracting more potential clients.
Better User Experience
Nobody likes waiting for images to load. Studies show that visitors will abandon a website if it takes more than 3 seconds to load. For photographers showcasing portfolios or selling prints, a slow website means lost opportunities. Fast-loading, properly sized images keep visitors engaged and browsing through your galleries instead of clicking away.
Mobile Performance
More than half of web traffic comes from mobile devices. Large image files are especially problematic on mobile connections, where bandwidth may be limited. Resizing images ensures your photography website loads quickly on smartphones and tablets, providing a smooth experience for mobile visitors.
Storage and Bandwidth
Unnecessarily large images consume more server storage space and bandwidth. If you’re on a hosting plan with storage or bandwidth limits, oversized images can quickly eat through your allocation. Resizing images helps you make the most of your hosting resources.
Now that you understand why image resizing is crucial, let’s talk about your options.
What Are Your Options for Resizing WordPress Images?
You have several options to choose from, depending on your workflow:
- Resize each image individually: WordPress includes basic editing tools that let you resize photos one at a time through the image block. The problem? When you’re working with galleries of 50, 100, or 200+ images, this approach will be extremely time-consuming.
- Handle resizing in your photo editing software: Many photographers prefer to resize images in Lightroom or Photoshop during their normal editing workflow. This works, but it means extra steps before you can get your photos online.
- Set it and forget it with automation: Install a plugin that automatically resizes your images according to rules you set once. After that, every image gets optimized without you lifting a finger. This is the approach I recommend for most photography websites.
Now that you know your options, let’s dive into the tutorials.
How to Automatically Resize Images in WordPress (2 Ways)
I’ll cover two different plugins that can automate image resizing on your WordPress site. Both work well, but they serve slightly different purposes. Let’s start with the first method.
Method 1: Automatically Resize Images in a Gallery
For this method, I’ll show you how to use NextGEN Gallery to automatically resize images within your photo galleries.
NextGEN Gallery is a powerful plugin built specifically for photographers who need to showcase their work on WordPress.
One of its best features is the ability to automatically resize photos when you add them to a gallery. This means you can display images in various gallery styles, like slideshow, mosaic, and filmstrip, without worrying about inconsistent sizes or slow load times.
The plugin is fully responsive and mobile-friendly, so your images automatically scale to look great on any device.
Plus, you get advanced control over image dimensions for different views. You can set custom sizes for your gallery thumbnails, lightbox views, and more.
Even better, NextGEN Gallery Pro powers Imagely, an all-in-one solution for photographers on WordPress. When you choose Imagely, you get everything you need to build and run a professional photography business online.
This includes NextGen Gallery Pro, the Imagely WordPress theme with 96+ stunning designs, built-in eCommerce features to sell prints and digital downloads, automatic print fulfillment, and so much more.
Beyond resizing, NextGEN Gallery Pro offers features that photographers really need:
- Watermarking to protect your images
- Lightbox displays with smooth transitions
- Client proofing galleries for streamlined reviews
- Albums to organize multiple galleries
- SEO optimization for your images
- Adobe Lightroom integration
And much more!
Step 1: Install NextGEN Gallery
First, you’ll need to install and activate NextGEN Gallery on your WordPress site. The free version will let you resize gallery images and set basic dimensions.
However, if you want access to advanced features like proofing galleries, eCommerce functionality, and advanced display options, you’ll want to upgrade to NextGEN Pro to get the full Imagely suite.
Once NextGEN Gallery is activated, you’re ready to create your first gallery with automatically resized images.
For detailed instructions, see our documentation on how to install NextGen Pro. Once that’s done, you’ll also need to verify your license key.
You’ll need to go to NextGen Gallery » Other Options » Pro License Key, and input your key. See our guide on adding a license key for more details.
Step 2: Set Up Automatic Resizing on Upload
NextGEN Gallery gives you two options for resizing images: you can set it to automatically resize all images as you upload them, or you can manually resize images after uploading them. Let’s start with the automatic option.
To configure automatic resizing for all future uploads, go to NextGen Gallery » Other Options in your WordPress admin menu.
The first tab in this section is Image Options. Here you’ll find several important settings:
First, set Automatically resize images after upload to Yes. This will enable automatic resizing for all images you upload from this point forward.
Next, set your desired maximum width and height for your images. NextGEN Gallery will maintain the aspect ratio of your photos, so they won’t appear stretched or distorted.
For example, if you set a max width of 1200px and max height of 0 (which means automatic), your images will be resized to 1200px wide while maintaining their original proportions.
I also recommend enabling Backup original images by setting it to Yes. This creates a backup copy of your full-resolution images before resizing them.
This way, if you ever need to restore an image to its original size, you’ll have that option available. For example, you may want to sell high-resolution prints later.
Once you’ve configured these settings, click Save Options at the top of the page.
Now, every image you upload to NextGEN Gallery will automatically be resized according to your specifications. Keep in mind that this setting only affects images uploaded after you activate it—previously uploaded images won’t be automatically resized using this method.
If you’re ready to create your first gallery, check out our beginner-friendly guide with step-by-step instructions.
Step 3: (Optional) Manually Resize Images After Upload
If you’ve already uploaded images before setting up automatic resizing, or if you only want to resize specific images in a gallery, you can manually resize them in bulk or individually.
First, go to Gallery » Manage Galleries and select the gallery containing the images you want to resize.
Once you’re viewing your gallery, you’ll see all the images it contains. You have two options here:
To resize all images in the gallery: Check the selection box at the top of the image list to select every image at once.
To resize specific images: Check the boxes next to individual images you want to resize.
After selecting your images, look for the Bulk Actions dropdown menu at the top of the image list.
Select Resize Images from the dropdown, then click the Apply button.
A popup window will appear where you can set the width and height for your selected images.
Remember, NextGEN Gallery will keep the aspect ratio intact, so your photos won’t be distorted.
Enter your desired dimensions and click OK. NextGEN Gallery will process your images and resize them according to your specifications.
Once the resizing process is complete, you’ll see the updated image sizes displayed under each image in your gallery management screen.
Don’t forget to click Save Changes at the bottom of the screen to finalize everything!
Method 2: Resize Images in Your WordPress Media Library
For the second method, I’ll show you how to resize WordPress images using Imsanity, a free image resize plugin.
This simple plugin uses WordPress’s default resizing functionality to automatically scale and replace images in your Media Library. It can resize your photos to specified dimensions when you upload them, or bulk resize images you’ve already uploaded.
Step 1: Install Imsanity
To start, you’ll need to install and activate the Imsanity plugin. Go to Plugins » Add New Plugin in your WordPress admin menu and search for “Imsanity”.
When you see the Imsanity plugin in the results, click the Install Now button.
When the button changes to Activate, click it to activate the plugin on your site.
Step 2: Configure Settings to Automatically Resize All New Images
Next, go to Settings » Imsanity in your WordPress admin menu to configure how the plugin will resize your images.
You’ll see several options for automatically resizing images based on where they’re uploaded:
- Images uploaded within a Page/Post: Enter the maximum width and height for photos uploaded directly into WordPress pages or posts. You can set either dimension to “0” to ignore it. For example, you might want images to be 1200px wide with automatic height (set to 0) to match the maximum width of your content area.
- Images uploaded directly to the Media Library: Set a size (or 0 to disable) for all photos uploaded via Media » Add New Media File.
- Images uploaded elsewhere: Set a size (or 0 to disable) for all other uploaded photos, such as featured images, theme headers, backgrounds, and logos.
You can also select the JPG image quality for compression and decide whether or not to automatically convert BMP and PNG images to JPG.
Keep in mind that Imsanity uses standard WordPress compression, so you shouldn’t rely on this alone for optimizing images. You may want to consider using a dedicated compression plugin alongside it.
Lastly, decide whether or not to enable Delete Originals. If you do, the plugin will completely replace the originally uploaded image with the scaled-down version in the new file format (if converted). WordPress will then use this new version to generate thumbnails. If disabled, the original will be kept as a backup.
Once you’re satisfied with your settings, click the Save Changes button at the bottom of the page.
Now Imsanity will automatically resize all your large images to the sizes you’ve set. Every new image you upload will be automatically processed—you don’t need to do anything else.
And there you have it! You now know how to resize WordPress images automatically using two different methods.
Don’t have Imagely yet? Get started with Imagely today and discover the complete solution for building and growing your photography business online!
If you found this article helpful, you might also want to check out:
- How to Create a Stunning WordPress Image Gallery (Tutorial)
- Best WordPress Plugins for Photographers
- How to Add a Lightbox to WordPress: Step-by-Step Guide
For more photography tips and WordPress tutorials, check out our blog!
Frequently Asked Questions: Resizing Images in WordPress
How do I automatically resize images in WordPress?
To automatically resize images in WordPress, you can use a plugin like NextGEN Gallery or Imsanity. NextGEN Gallery automatically resizes images within your photo galleries, giving you control over dimensions for gallery views, lightboxes, and thumbnails. Imsanity resizes all images uploaded to your WordPress Media Library by setting maximum width and height limits. Both plugins can resize images automatically on upload and bulk resize previously uploaded images.
What is the best image size for WordPress?
The ideal image size for WordPress depends on your theme and content layout, but a good rule of thumb is to keep images between 1200-2000px wide for full-width images and 800-1200px for content area images. For blog post featured images, 1200x630px works well as it’s optimized for social media sharing. Always maintain your image’s aspect ratio to prevent distortion, and use compression to keep file sizes under 200KB for faster loading times.
Does resizing images improve website speed?
Yes, resizing images significantly improves website speed. Large, high-resolution images are one of the biggest culprits of slow-loading websites. When you resize images to appropriate dimensions, you reduce file sizes, which means faster page load times. This is especially important for photography websites with multiple galleries. Faster loading speeds improve user experience, reduce bounce rates, and can positively impact your search engine rankings since site speed is a major SEO factor.
Can I resize images in WordPress without losing quality?
Yes, you can resize images in WordPress without noticeable quality loss if done correctly. When you resize images to smaller dimensions while maintaining the aspect ratio, quality remains excellent for web display. The key is to start with high-quality originals and resize them to dimensions appropriate for web viewing (typically 1200-2000px wide).
Should I resize images before uploading to WordPress?
While you can resize images before uploading to WordPress using photo editing software like Lightroom or Photoshop, it’s not necessary if you use an automatic resizing plugin. Plugins like NextGEN Gallery can automatically resize images as you upload them, saving you time and streamlining your workflow. This is especially useful for photographers who regularly upload large batches of high-resolution photos. However, if you prefer complete control over your image editing process, resizing before upload is still a valid approach.
