What Happens When You Compress a File?

When you need to send a file, but it’s too big, the first thing that crosses your mind is to compress it. That’s usually the fix that most users go for, but you might not be so keen to compressing a file, fearing that essential data could be lost.

Once you know what happens when you compress a file, you might not even think twice about compressing. You know that compressing a file makes it smaller and more comfortable to send, but is that all there is to it?

What Is File Compression?

File compression reduces the size of the file as much as 90%, without losing any of the primary data. Compressing a file is also known as zipping.

Therefore, file compression helps the user save a considerable amount of disk space. File compression will create a version of one or more files with the same data that’s a lot smaller than the uncompressed file.

There are different types of file compression options such as 7z, Zip, StuffIt, RAR, CZIP, and more. Every option uses a distinct compression method.

The person receiving the compressed file will need a program that’ll decompress the file back to its normal state. If the receiver doesn’t have a program that will open the compressed file, they won’t be able to open it.

With File Compression, similar patterns and data are found and are substituted with a different identifier. For example, the word keyboard can be replaced with the number 7 that takes up a lot less space than the word keyboard.

What Changes When You Compress a File – Lossy Compression

There are two main types of file compression: Lossy and Lossless file compression. Lossy compression will take out useless data to help reduce the media file size. For example, in an audio file, there are going to be sounds that humans just can’t hear.

Taking out these sounds isn’t going to cause any drawbacks that will make the audio file useless. If quality is crucial to you, then you might want to avoid heavily compressing the file or using this type of compression. Compressing the file too much will affect the quality of the file.

Lossy compression also comes in handy when the image you want to print is portrait size and not something the size of a banner.

Lossless Compression

If you want to use a compression method that doesn’t remove any data, then Lossless Compression is what you’re looking for. What Lossless Compression does is that it removes any unnecessary data, so it can reduce the file size.

For example, let’s say you have two red cars, two blue cars, and three black cars: seven vehicles in total. Seven cars can take up a lot of space, so what Lossless Compression does is that it labels one red car with the number two, one black car with the number three, and the blue car with the number two.

So, in the end, you only have three cars with their respective labels. By doing this, you give the exact same information on the numbers of vehicles in those colors but with fewer cars.

With this type of compression, the quality of the file is not compromised, and you still save space in the process.

What to Never Do

If you have a file that you compressed using the Lossy compression method, don’t convert it to Lossless. Also, be careful with turning a lossy format to another.

You’re only wasting your time if you try to convert the Lossy file to Lossless. Why? Because when you compress using the Lossy option, certain data is taken out. So when you try to convert that file to Lossless, none of that removed data will be redeemed.

As I mentioned earlier, void compressing a file in Lossy. The more you compress a file this way, the more the quality of the file is degraded.

Conclusion

As you can see, compressing a file can make sending a file a lot easier. But, there are things to keep in mind when it comes to choosing the way the file is compressed. How often do you compress files? Let me know in the comments below.