How we test

Every number on this site comes from Photoshop files we ran through Layersqueeze ourselves, or from a source we link to. Here is how we check that a smaller file is still the same file.

The test files

We test on 34 public Photoshop files, 878 MB in all: four production paintings from the open animated film Sol Levante, eight game art files from OpenGameArt, 20 test files from the open-source psd-tools and ag-psd projects (they cover unusual color modes, bit depths, and layer features), and two layered files we built from public photos. We also test on eight production files from a working studio, 1.97 GB in all, which were shared with us for testing and are never published.

What Layersqueeze checks on every file

After it writes the smaller copy, Layersqueeze reads it back and compares it with the original: the header, every layer's settings, and every pixel of every layer and mask. If anything differs, you get an error instead of a file. This runs in your browser on every file, not only on our test files.

What we check in other apps

Before any change to how Layersqueeze writes files goes live, a script opens each test file and its smaller copy in Adobe Photoshop 2026, lists the layers, saves the picture Photoshop draws, and compares the two. All 42 files show the same layers and identical pixels. The same check runs in GIMP 3, where all 42 match too, and in Krita 5.3. Krita can't open six of the public originals at all (32-bit files among them); of the rest, it shows 33 the same, and the other two it draws slightly differently every time it opens them, the originals included.

Where the guide numbers come from

Sizes such as the Sol Levante painting's (58.7 MB as Photoshop saves it, 36.5 MB with Maximize Compatibility off, 19.6 MB after Layersqueeze) are our own measurements. When a guide uses someone else's test, it says whose and links to it. The date at the top of each guide is the last time its content changed.

Who makes Layersqueeze

Layersqueeze is an independent project. It isn't made by or affiliated with Adobe. Questions and corrections are welcome at hello@layersqueeze.com.