I Tried image-video-optimizer in a Project — Here’s My Honest Experience

Media optimization is one of those things most developers ignore at the beginning of a project.

Everything works fine initially:

• uploads are fast,
• storage looks manageable,
• and performance feels smooth.

But after some time, reality hits.

Large screenshots, uploaded videos, PDFs, and audio files slowly start increasing storage usage and bandwidth costs. Pages become heavier, APIs take longer, and file processing becomes messy.

A few weeks ago, I was working on a Node.js project where users regularly uploaded media files. At first, I tried handling optimization separately:

• one package for images,
• another setup for videos,
• separate processing for PDFs,
• and custom FFmpeg commands.

Honestly, the workflow became frustrating very quickly.

That’s when I came across image-video-optimizer.

Instead of writing a promotional article, I wanted to share what it actually felt like using the tool in a real project.

First Impression

The first thing that stood out to me was that the package doesn’t only focus on images.

It supports multiple types of media files including:

• images
• videos
• audio files
• PDF documents

That immediately made it feel more practical compared to many optimization tools that only solve one part of the problem.

For real-world projects, handling everything through one workflow is genuinely convenient.

You can check the package here: image-video-optimizer on npm

Installation Was Simple

The installation process was straightforward.

npm install -g image-video-optimizer

What I liked is that the setup didn’t feel overly complicated.

A lot of media optimization tools require lengthy configurations before you can even test them properly. This one felt much easier to get started with.

What I Used It For

I mainly tested it with:

• PNG screenshots
• JPG images
• MP4 videos
• audio files
• PDFs

The goal wasn’t extreme compression.

I mainly wanted:

• smaller upload sizes,
• reduced storage usage,
• faster media loading,
• and a cleaner optimization workflow.

For those purposes, it worked surprisingly well.

One Feature That Helped More Than I Expected

The recursive folder processing ended up being one of the most useful features for me.

Instead of manually compressing files folder by folder, I could simply run the tool on a parent directory, and it automatically optimized files inside child folders as well.

Something like this:

uploads/
	├── images/
	├── videos/
	├── audio/
	└── documents/

The tool can process nested folders automatically.

That sounds small at first, but in projects with large media directories, it saves a lot of time.

Resume Functionality Is Actually Useful

Another thing I appreciated was the resume functionality and tracking system.

Many optimization tools restart everything from the beginning if the process stops midway.

But this tool keeps track of already-processed files.

So if:

• the process crashes,
• the server restarts,
• or optimization gets interrupted,

you don’t necessarily lose all progress.

For larger folders or production environments, this becomes genuinely useful.

Especially when processing large video collections.

It Preserves the Original File Extension

This was honestly one of my favorite details.

A lot of compression tools automatically change the file extension during optimization.

For example:

• PNG becomes JPG
• JPG becomes WebP
• or videos get converted unexpectedly

That can create problems if your application depends on specific file formats.

But image-video-optimizer maintains the original file extension.

So:

• PNG stays PNG
• MP4 stays MP4
• PDF stays PDF

That makes integration much safer in existing systems.

It also avoids the headache of updating database references or handling unexpected format changes later.

Usage Felt Pretty Straightforward

The documentation was easy enough to follow without spending hours figuring things out.

A simple example looked like this:

image-video-optimizer compress --input ./uploads

And because it works recursively, the tool automatically handles files inside nested directories as well.

That made the workflow feel cleaner compared to manually targeting individual folders.

Why This Actually Matters

Media optimization is not just about saving storage.

Smaller files also help with:

• faster uploads,
• lower bandwidth usage,
• better website performance,
• improved API response times,
• and smoother user experience.

Modern websites heavily depend on media content now, especially videos and large images. Efficient compression has become increasingly important for performance-focused applications.

That’s why having a tool that can handle multiple media types in one workflow feels genuinely practical.

The Overall Experience

What I liked most is that the package feels developer-focused.

It doesn’t try to become an overly complicated enterprise media platform.

Instead, it solves common problems developers actually face:

• optimizing uploads,
• reducing storage,
• handling nested folders,
• preserving file formats,
• and avoiding unnecessary setup complexity.

That simplicity is probably what stood out the most to me.

Where I Think This Tool Fits Best

I can easily see this being useful for:

• CMS platforms
• admin dashboards
• blogging systems
• portfolio websites
• SaaS applications
• cloud storage projects
• upload-heavy applications
• media management systems

Especially projects where users upload files regularly.

Final Thoughts

After trying image-video-optimizer, my overall impression is pretty simple:

It feels like a utility built by someone who understands the small but annoying problems developers face while handling media uploads.

The multi-format support, recursive folder optimization, resume functionality, and original extension preservation make it more practical than many similar tools I’ve tried before.

For small and medium Node.js projects especially, it feels genuinely useful without becoming unnecessarily complicated.

Check Out the Package

• https://www.npmjs.com/package/image-video-optimizer