Real Estate Agents: Stop Waiting 20 Minutes for Photos to Upload
Time is your most valuable asset. Yet, many agents spend hours every week staring at a loading bar.
When you shoot a listing with a modern iPhone or a DSLR, you end up with photos that are 5MB to 8MB each. If you have 40 photos for a new listing, that is over 200MB of data you are trying to push to your MLS (Multiple Listing Service).
Even if your MLS accepts large files (many like FlexMLS allow up to 15MB), the upload process is the bottleneck. Uploading 200MB on a coffee shop Wi-Fi connection can take forever. And if the connection drops? You have to start over.
The "Speed Upload" Strategy
The secret to a faster workflow isn't faster internet; it's smaller files. You do not need an 8MB file for the MLS. A compressed 500KB file will look exactly the same on Zillow or Realtor.com.
By compressing each photo before you upload, you can shrink an 8MB image down to around 500KB — that's over 90% smaller. Do that for your whole listing, and your total upload shrinks dramatically. What used to take 20 minutes now takes a couple of minutes.
How to Batch Process a Listing
You don't have time to open Photoshop for every living room shot. Here is the fast way:
- Export your photos. Get your selected shots into a folder.
- Batch them in LighterImage. You can drag up to 5 photos at a time. It handles PNG, JPG, WebP, and BMP files up to 10MB each.
- Download. Each image gets compressed individually, and you also get a WebP version for maximum compatibility. Click the download buttons to save your lightweight versions.
- Upload to MLS. Watch how fast the progress bar moves.
Bonus: Emailing Client Previews
Have you ever tried to email a "sneak peek" of listing photos to a seller, only to have the email bounce because it was too big? Compressed images solve this too. You can easily attach 10 high-quality compressed photos to a standard email without hitting the attachment limit.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do MLS photo uploads take so long?
Modern cameras and phones produce large photo files, often 5-10MB each. Uploading dozens of these takes significant time, especially on slower connections. Compressing each photo to around 500KB dramatically reduces upload time while maintaining visual quality.
Will compressed photos look bad on Zillow or Realtor.com?
No. Properly compressed photos maintain full visual quality. A 500KB compressed image looks identical to an 8MB original on web displays. The compression removes invisible data, not visual detail.
What file size should real estate photos be?
Aim for 300KB-500KB per photo. This provides excellent quality for MLS displays while enabling fast uploads. Most MLS systems accept up to 15MB, but smaller files upload much faster and display just as well.
No signup required. Batch compress your listing photos in seconds.