How to Move From TinyPNG to ShortPixel: A Guide for Agencies
Moving from TinyPNG to ShortPixel Image Optimizer is straightforward, but the process is shaped by one specific detail. TinyPNG optimizes images in place, replacing the original file on disk. There’s no separate backup folder or in-plugin restore action.
That changes how the migration should be run, especially across a client portfolio where one wrong click multiplied across twenty sites is a Monday morning you don’t want. This guide walks you through it the way an agency should run it: site by site, repeatable, and with backups front and center.
Why a plugin swap needs a plan
TinyPNG and ShortPixel Image Optimizer both compress your images and serve lighter versions to visitors. They just make different decisions about how aggressive to be.
The problem starts when you optimize an image that’s already been optimized. The second plugin doesn’t know what the first one threw away. It just compresses what it sees.
That’s called double compression, and it shows up as:
- Soft edges and lost detail in product photos
- Banding in skies, gradients, and skin tones
- Visible blockiness in dark areas of JPEGs
- A general “this used to look better” feeling
TinyPNG’s compression is pretty aggressive. Running another lossy pass on top of that with any plugin will introduce visible artifacts, and the original is no longer available within TinyPNG to restore.
That’s why the migration has two paths, and picking the right one for each site matters.
The two paths
Before touching anything, ask: do we have access to the original, pre-TinyPNG versions of these images anywhere?
Path A — Restore originals from an external source, then let ShortPixel Image Optimizer optimize. Cleaner option when it’s available. Replace the optimized files with their originals (from cloud storage, a host snapshot, or a site backup that predates TinyPNG), uninstall TinyPNG, install ShortPixel Image Optimizer, run a fresh optimization on untouched files. You end up with one plugin, one set of settings, and full freedom to pick Lossy, Glossy, or Lossless.
Path B — Keep the existing optimizations and use ShortPixel Image Optimizer from here on. This is the right choice when external originals aren’t available. The current Media Library stays as TinyPNG left it, and ShortPixel Image Optimizer handles everything going forward.
Path B is the more common case with TinyPNG migrations, since the plugin doesn’t keep a separate copy of originals by default. Both paths are perfectly valid. They just lead to different outcomes. We’ll cover both.
Path A: the clean migration
Step 1 — Locate the original images
Before promising anything, confirm the source of originals is what it claims to be.
Common places to check:
- A client-managed cloud folder (Dropbox, Google Drive) where master files were uploaded before they ever hit the site
- Site backups taken before TinyPNG was installed and activated (UpdraftPlus, BlogVault, host snapshots)
- A staging or development copy of the site that predates optimization
- Local archives kept by the photographer or designer
Spot-check a few against what’s currently on the site. Look at file size and dimensions. A 4 MB master and a 380 KB version on the site is a clear sign you’re looking at the originals.
If none of the above is available, switch to Path B.
Step 2 — Take a full site backup
Non-negotiable. Before any bulk action, back up the whole site: files and database. UpdraftPlus, BlogVault, your host’s snapshot tool, whatever you normally use.
For agencies, this is also the right moment to spin up staging and test the migration there first. WooCommerce stores in particular don’t react well to surprises with product images.
Step 3 — Replace the optimized files with the originals
The exact steps depend on where the originals live.
Clean folder in cloud storage: upload the originals via SFTP into /wp-content/uploads/, mirroring the year/month folder structure WordPress uses. Overwrite the existing files.
Pre-TinyPNG site backup: restore only the /wp-content/uploads/ directory, not the database. You want the original image files, not last year’s content.
After the originals are back in place, run the Regenerate Thumbnails Advanced plugin. WordPress’s resized versions (thumbnail, medium, large, plus theme-specific sizes) were compressed alongside the originals. They need to be rebuilt from the freshly restored masters.
Step 4 — Spot-check the restoration
Open a handful of images in the Media Library at full size. Compare them visually against the source.
Check that file sizes match what you expect. If anything looks off, stop and fix it before moving on.
Step 5 — Deactivate and uninstall TinyPNG
Now you can safely remove the plugin.
Don’t skip the uninstall step. Two image optimization plugins active at the same time is a mess. Both will hook into the upload process, both will try to manage WebP and AVIF generation, and you’ll lose an afternoon figuring out which one is doing what.
Step 6 — Install ShortPixel Image Optimizer and configure it
Install ShortPixel Image Optimizer from the WordPress repository. Activate it, paste in your API key, and configure your settings before running anything in bulk.
A sensible default for most client sites:
- Compression: Glossy. Strong file size reduction with no visible quality loss for typical web content
- WebP and AVIF: both enabled. Modern browsers get the best format, older browsers fall back automatically
- Backup originals: on. Always. This is your ticket to re-optimizing later if needed
- Thumbnail optimization: on. WordPress generates many sized versions, and that’s what visitors actually load
- Resize large uploads: 1920 to 2560px max width. Plenty for retina, no wasted pixels
For photography clients or portfolio sites, drop Compression to Lossless or test Glossy carefully on a few representative pages before bulk processing.
Step 7 — Run a bulk optimization with ShortPixel Image Optimizer
Go to Media > Bulk ShortPixel and start the process. Because you restored originals first, every image is being compressed once, by one plugin, at the level you picked.
That’s your clean baseline.
Path B: when external originals aren’t available
This is the common case for TinyPNG migrations, and it’s a perfectly clean path forward. It just requires one extra bit of care.
Important: do not run Glossy or Lossy bulk optimization on an already TinyPNG-optimized library unless you restored originals first. Once the second lossy pass is done, there’s no way back.
Here’s why that matters. Lossy and Glossy compression remove visual information. Lossless doesn’t. It just finds more efficient ways to encode what’s already there.
So on an existing TinyPNG library, you have two safe options before any bulk operation:
- Set ShortPixel to Lossless. Savings on already-compressed JPEGs are modest, but the images stay safe and you still get WebP/AVIF generated for the existing library.
- Mark existing images as already optimized. ShortPixel skips them entirely in bulk. Simpler, and the right choice if you’re happy with how the current library looks.
The Path B migration looks like this:
- Take a full site backup (same as Path A)
- Deactivate and uninstall TinyPNG
- Install ShortPixel Image Optimizer and configure it
- Go to Settings > ShortPixel > Processing and confirm Optimize media on upload is enabled
- Before running any bulk operation, either set compression to Lossless or mark the existing library as already optimized
That last step is what protects the existing library. The default ShortPixel compression is Glossy, and a bulk operation processes everything in the Media Library, including images TinyPNG already touched.
Setting the compression level (or marking as optimized) before bulk is what keeps the old files as they are. New uploads from this point on get the full ShortPixel treatment automatically.
Agency workflow: doing this across a portfolio
One site? The steps above are all you need. Twenty sites? The migration itself is the easy part. The hard part is doing it consistently across every client.
Use subaccounts or API key aliases to keep client billing clean
ShortPixel lets you create subaccounts from a single parent account, each with its own API key and credit allocation. Alternatively, you could use API key aliases. For agencies, this is how you should structure things from day one.
Set up the parent account once, then create one subaccount per client site. Each gets:
- Its own API key, used in the plugin on that site
- A credit quota you control
- A separate optimization report you can pull at invoicing time
One client’s heavy month doesn’t eat into another client’s quota. And you never have to guess who optimized what.
Standardize your settings before you start
Pick one default ShortPixel configuration that fits the majority of your portfolio (simple business sites, blogs, basic e-commerce). Apply it without thinking on every site. Document it once.
The configuration in Step 6 above is a fine starting point.
Deviations are okay. Photography portfolios will want Lossless. News sites might want more aggressive resizing. But every deviation should be intentional and documented in that client’s internal notes.
The goal isn’t perfect uniformity. The goal is that any team member opening a ShortPixel setup six months from now immediately understands what they’re looking at.
Migrate in waves
Don’t plan a “migration weekend” where you switch everything at once. Something will go sideways on one or two sites, and you want bandwidth to handle it.
A reasonable cadence:
- Week 1: pick three low-risk sites (your own marketing site, an internal tool, a small client). Get your process tight.
- Week 2 onward: migrate two to five sites per week, batched by similarity. All WooCommerce in one batch. All blogs in another.
Keep a simple tracker: site name, date migrated, path used (A or B), notes.
Quick recap
The two-line version:
- External originals available: restore them → uninstall TinyPNG → install ShortPixel → bulk optimize. Use any compression level.
- External originals not available: uninstall TinyPNG → install ShortPixel → choose Lossless compression or mark images as optimized before running a bulk operation. New uploads get optimized; old ones stay as they are.
Either way: full backup before you start, subaccounts or API key aliases for clean client billing, and a standardized setup across the portfolio. The migration itself is half an hour or less per site. Everything else is what keeps you from inheriting a mess six months from now.
FAQs
Can I keep both TinyPNG and ShortPixel active during the migration?
No. Running two image optimization plugins at the same time causes conflicts with overcompression, upload hooks, WebP/AVIF generation, and backup handling. Finish whatever you need to do in TinyPNG first, then deactivate and uninstall it before installing ShortPixel.
What happens to my images when I uninstall TinyPNG?
Your already-optimized images stay exactly as they are on disk. They’re standard JPEGs, PNGs, and WebPs, just smaller than the originals were. They’ll continue to display normally on the site. The TinyPNG settings and statistics are removed with the plugin.
Do I need to regenerate thumbnails after switching?
On Path B, no. WordPress thumbnails are already on disk, and ShortPixel will handle them (or skip them, depending on your settings) as part of bulk optimization. On Path A, yes. After restoring originals, you need to regenerate the thumbnail set so it matches the restored masters, then let ShortPixel optimize the regenerated thumbnails.
What if I’m not sure whether the client has clean originals somewhere?
Default to Path B. It’s the safer assumption. If clean originals surface later, you can always restore and re-optimize then. Starting on Path A and discovering halfway through that the “originals” weren’t actually originals is a worse problem than starting on Path B and finding good news later.
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