Documentation
PixEncoder documentation.
Everything you need to install, use and configure PixEncoder and PixEncoder Pro.
Installing PixEncoder Pro
- Download the PixEncoder Pro plugin.
- In WordPress, go to Plugins > Add New > Upload Plugin, choose the downloaded PixEncoder Pro ZIP file, and click Install Now.
- Click Activate to enable the plugin.
- If PixEncoder Lite is installed, PixEncoder Pro takes over from it: PixEncoder Lite is deactivated and a notice says so. PixEncoder Lite files remain on the site in a deactivated state, and your settings, images and the records of what has been converted are preserved.
- To activate the Pro features, go to PixEncoder > Licence & Updates and paste your licence key, or press Start 7-day Pro trial. otherwise, PixEncoder Pro works in its unlicensed state (with the Pro features disabled).
Only one can be active at a time: activating one deactivates the other. Either can also be installed by uploading its folder, pixencoder or pixencoder-pro, to /wp-content/plugins/ and activating it from the Plugins page.
Using the PixEncoder Dashboard
The PixEncoder Dashboard shows the status of your image library at a glance:
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Storage Used
The space your images take, including every size WordPress made and the WebP and AVIF copies.
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Total Images
With a valid licence, this tile becomes a clickable link to the Media List on the Images tab which shows all images listed in the Media Library.
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Unoptimised Images
With a valid licence, this tile becomes a clickable link to a filtered list showing only the unoptimised images.
The title is amber when one or more images require optimising.
The title is green when one or more images are optimised.
This includes JPEG, PNG and GIF images. -
Optimised Images
With a valid licence, this tile becomes a clickable link to a filtered list showing only the optimised images.
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Missing Alt Text
With a valid licence, this tile becomes a clickable link to a filtered list showing all images that are missing Atl Text.
The tile is amber when there is one or more imges that have missing Alt Text.
The tile is green when there is no imges with missing Alt Text.
An optimised image whose original copy still exists is counted once, through its original. -
Title to Improve
With a valid licence, this tile becomes a clickable link to a filtered list showing all images that have no title, or whose title is still set as the file name that WordPress fills in when the image is uploaded, such as product-screen-01 for product-screen-01.webp. A title written out in words, i.e. as Product Screen 01, is not counted as this clearly shows that the title has been ammended.
The tile is amber if PixEncoder detects any images whose title needs attention.
The tile is green when PixEncoder assumes that all images have valid titles. -
Spelling
With a valid licence, this tile becomes a clickable link to a filtered list showing all images that have been detected as having spellig mistakes in the Title or Alt Text.
The tile is amber if PixEncoder detects any images with spelling mistakes. To clear such errors, correct the spelling or ad the word to the custom dictionary.
The tile is green when PixEncoder assumes that all images have no spelling mistakes. -
Status Messages
This box should be green when everything is working and amber when something needs attention or has not been used. It shows the result of the delivery test, with Test again to run it now and Change to choose another delivery method. Your server, Pro licence and any skipped images are only mentioned when there is something to fix.
Using the PixEncoder Images Screen
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Searching the Images Screen
The search box filters the list as you type. Search can match: File Name, Title, Alt Text or Date Added.
Dates can be searched exactly as shown in the Date Added column, for example October or October 5.
With a valid licence, matching text is highlighted in every result, including file names, dates, titles and alt text.
No Alt Text and Title to Improve filter the list to images that still need attention. Each filter shows how many images it contains, and both can be used together.
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Download CSV
Download CSV exports the images currently shown in the list, in the same order, including the date each image was added.
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Documentation Guide
The Documentation button opens this guide.
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Uploading Images
Drag images from your computer anywhere onto the Images screen and drop them. A progress box counts them as they upload. They are added to your Media Library like any other upload, and the list refreshes to show them. Files that are not images, or are larger than your server allows, are listed and skipped. In PixEncoder Pro, if Convert new uploads automatically is enabled in Settings, images are optimised as they arrive.
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Saving a Copy of an Image
In PixEncoder Pro, drag an image's thumbnail from the list onto your desktop or into a folder to save a copy of it. You get exactly the file shown in that row, under its own name. This works in Chrome and Edge; Firefox and Safari do not support it.
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Date Added Column
Shows the day each image was added to the Media Library, in your site's date format. Hover over it for the time. In the Optimized list it is the day the WebP copy was made.
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Sorting Images
Click the File name, File size or Date added heading to sort the list by it. Click the same heading again to reverse the order. File size starts with the largest images, which are usually the ones most worth optimising. The list opens with the newest images first, so Date added is marked as the current order until you choose another.
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Column Widths
Move the mouse over the headings and a thin line appears at the right edge of each column. Drag it to make that column wider or narrower. Double-click the line to reset the column to its starting width. Your widths are remembered in your browser, separately for the Media and Optimized lists.
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Deleting Images
Click the bin in the Trash column. A confirmation shows the image and says exactly what will be deleted and what is kept, and nothing is removed until you press Delete permanently. Press Cancel or Esc to back out.
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Title and Alt Text
Both save as soon as you click away from the box, and are copied to the image's WebP item too. The alt text box grows and shrinks to show all of its text, also when you drag a column wider or narrower. Alt text is saved as a sentence: a full stop is added at the end unless it already ends with a full stop, question mark, exclamation mark or ellipsis, and spaces at the end are removed. In PixEncoder Pro, both boxes are spell checked in UK or US English, following your site's language. Misspelt words are listed under the box after Spelling:; click one for suggestions, and picking a suggestion corrects the word and saves straight away. Add to dictionary accepts a word everywhere on the site, such as a brand or product name, and Ignore hides it until you reload the page. To correct or remove a word you have added, use Edit dictionary in Settings. Words with numbers or capitals inside them (WebP, PixEncoder) and abbreviations in capitals (SEO) are never flagged. The dictionary follows the Site Language in Settings > General: English (United States) uses US spelling (color, optimize), any other English uses UK spelling (colour, optimise), and for other languages spell checking is switched off and the Dashboard's Spelling box is hidden.
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Already Optimised Images
Rows for images that already have a WebP copy are dimmed, so the ones still to do stand out. A row returns to full strength when you hover over it or edit its title or alt text.
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Thumbnail Images
Hover over a thumbnail to preview the image, or click it to open the full-size view. The full-size view shows the file name, file size, dimensions, title and alt text. Copy buttons beside the file name, title and alt text copy plain text only, so it can be pasted into Excel, Word or an AI chat without formatting. Copy Screenshot copies the image and its details together as a single picture; if your browser cannot copy images, the picture is downloaded instead. The text can also be selected and copied directly, and the view remains open until you click outside it.
Renaming Image Files
On the Images screen, click the pencil beside a file name to rename an image. Type the new name and press Enter, or click anywhere else, to save it. Press Esc to keep the old name. What happens to pages that use the image depends on which plugin you have. See the table below.
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Names are made lowercase, and spaces are replaced using your chosen delimiter form the Settings tab.
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The file type stays the same: <code>logo.png</code> can become <code>new-logo.png</code>, not <code>new-logo.jpg</code>
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Every size WordPress made of the image is renamed with it
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When you rename
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Without Lcense
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With Licence
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The file, and every size WordPress made of it
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Renamed
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Pages, templates and settings that use the image
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Not changed. They still ask for the old name, so update them by hand, or rename an image before you use it.
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Listed while the box is open, with a link to each. Saving updates them all to the new name, including Elementor layouts, headers, footers and widgets, then lists what was changed.
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A WebP image whose original was deleted
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Renamed. Pages that still ask for the old .png address are not changed.
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Renamed, and pages that still ask for the old .png address are moved to the new .webp.
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An image that has a WebP copy cannot be renamed: restore it to its original, rename it, then optimise it again. For a WebP copy whose original still exists, rename the original instead. WebP images you uploaded yourself, or whose original you have deleted, can be renamed directly.
Links from other websites and search engine image results cannot be updated because they are not stored on your site. Where you can, rename images before you publish them.
Naming images with AI
Good file names, titles and alt text help search engines and screen readers understand your images. Working through a long list is quicker with an AI assistant: click the info icon beside any file name on the Images screen for a step-by-step guide and a ready-made prompt.
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Copy the prompt and paste it into your AI chat
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Open an image full size by clicking its thumbnail, press Copy screenshot and paste it into the chat. The screenshot shows the image with its current file name, title and alt text
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Back in PixEncoder, click the pencil icon next to the image to rename the file, then enter the suggested title and alt text into their boxes.
The prompt asks for a lowercase, hyphenated file name, a short title and alt text of one sentence under 125 characters, and to keep your product names spelled exactly as you write them.
Converting Images to WebP
By default, nothing is converted automatically. To convert images:
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Several images: tick them and press Optimise Selected
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One image: press Optimise on its row
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Re-optimise: press Re-optimise after changing the quality settings
Each image gets a WebP copy alongside it, named like logo.webp. If two images share a name in the same folder, their copies are named logo-jpg.webp and logo-png.webp so neither overwrites the other.
Progress. Optimising several images opens a window showing the file being worked on, how many are done and the space saved so far. Press Work in the background to close the window and carry on working: a bar beside the logo shows the progress on every PixEncoder tab, and when it finishes the list refreshes and Background task completed shows for a few seconds. Stop, in the window and on the bar, ends the run after the image in hand. Images that could not be converted are listed with the reason. The work is done in your browser. If you leave PixEncoder, the task pauses and resumes when you return. Restoring several images works the same way.
Restoring Original Images
The Optimised Folder
Choosing images in a page. In the Insert media, Add to gallery and Choose image windows, including Elementor’s, the purple Optimized Library tab beside Media Library lists your WebP images, and Media Library lists your originals. When you edit an existing gallery or carousel, the window always shows the images already in it, whether they are originals or WebP copies.
Searching. The search box in those windows sits beside Filter by date and filters as you type, matching the file name, title and alt text.
Deleting images
You can delete an image from the Media Library or from the Images screen. What happens to the places that use it depends on what you delete and on which version of PixEncoder you have:
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When you delete
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Without Licence
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With Licence
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An original that has a WebP copy
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The WebP copy is kept. Pages are not changed, so choose the WebP image again wherever the original was used.
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The WebP copy is kept. Every page, template, Elementor layout, widget and setting that holds the original's address is moved to the WebP, size for size.
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An image with no WebP copy
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Deleted as WordPress would delete it. Anything that used it is left without an image.
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A WebP copy
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The copy is deleted, and its original is kept and put back as it was uploaded.
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Places that store only a number (PixEncoder Pro). Some places remember an image by its Media Library ID alone, with no address: a featured image, the site logo and site icon, and the image settings of some plugins and shortcodes. PixEncoder Pro finds the uses of an image by its address, so it cannot see these locations, and they are not updated when you delete the original.
Choose the WebP image again in each of those locations. Elementor layouts keep the address as well as the ID, so they are moved.
Deleting an image and uploading it again. Uploading a file again, even one with the same name, makes a new image with a new ID. Nothing that used the deleted image follows it to the new one, so each place needs the new image choosing. To change an image’s file name, title or alt text, edit it on the Images screen instead.
Settings
Open the Settings tab to control how PixEncoder creates, delivers and manages images.
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Formats
Create WebP copies (quality 80 by default), and discard any copy that comes out bigger than its original. PixEncoder Pro adds AVIF copies (quality 35). AVIF is only served when it is smaller than the WebP copy.
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Originals
In PixEncoder Pro. Compress the original JPEG and PNG files, and set the JPEG quality (82 by default). Keep a backup before compressing originals saves an untouched copy first, so the image can be restored exactly as it was uploaded.
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Delivery & uploads
Deliver WebP with a server rewrite (Apache and LiteSpeed), with picture tags (any server, including Nginx) or not at all. In PixEncoder Pro, new uploads can be scaled down to a maximum size and optimised automatically.
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Spelling
Switch on US spelling for US wording on PixEncoder's own screens, such as Optimize and License. Switched off, they use UK wording, such as Optimise and Licence. It starts switched on for sites whose Site Language is English (United States). It only changes the words on PixEncoder's screens, never your file names, titles or alt text, and the spell checker keeps following your Site Language. Edit Dictionary, in PixEncoder Pro, lists the words you have added with Add to Dictionary on the Images screen. Type over a word to correct it, press its bin to remove it, or add new ones in the box at the top. Nothing changes until you press Save.
Licence & updates
The Licence & Updates tab is available only in PixEncoder Pro.
When there is no valid licence, an Unlock Pro Features button sits beside the logo on every tab, the banner on Licence & Updates reads No valid licence, and each Pro feature is shown switched off with a padlock PRO tag.
Paste your licence key under PixEncoder > Licence & Updates. A key registered to a different domain is refused, and the message says so. PixEncoder Pro checks the TechDirect Studio release server for new versions. Updates appear in Dashboard > Updates and on the Plugins page, and install like any other plugin. The check sends only your licence key, your site’s domain and the plugin version.
Upgrading to PixEncoder Pro. Install and activate PixEncoder Pro. It takes over from PixEncoder Lite, which is deactivated; its files stay on the site. Your settings, your images and the record of what has been converted are kept. Activating PixEncoder Lite again deactivates Pro in the same way, and Pro’s files and licence are kept.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need both PixEncoder Lite and PixEncoder Pro?
No. Only one can be active at a time. PixEncoder Pro contains everything in PixEncoder Lite. Activating either one deactivates the other and a notice says so; nothing is removed, and your settings and images are kept. Until a licence key or the 7-day trial is active, PixEncoder Pro works like PixEncoder Lite.
Which spelling dictionary does PixEncoder use?
It follows the Site Language setting under Settings > General. English (United States) is checked with US spelling, and every other English with UK spelling. PixEncoder includes only these two English dictionaries, so for other languages spell checking is switched off. Use Add to Dictionary for brand and product names, so they are accepted everywhere on your site.
Does PixEncoder change or delete my original images?
No. PixEncoder Lite never changes an original. PixEncoder Pro can compress originals, and keeps a backup of each one first. Restoring an image puts it back exactly as it was uploaded. If you delete an original from the Media Library, its WebP copy stays. PixEncoder Pro switches your pages, carousels and layouts to it automatically; with PixEncoder Lite you choose the WebP image again in each place. See Deleting images.
I deleted an image and it has gone from a page. Why?
There are three common reasons. You use PixEncoder Lite, which keeps the WebP copy but leaves your pages as they are: moving them over is a PixEncoder Pro feature. The image had no WebP copy, so there was nothing to switch the page to. Or the page stores the image by its Media Library ID alone. Featured images, the site logo and some plugin settings work this way, and PixEncoder Pro can only update places that store the image’s address. Uploading the same file again does not bring it back either, because the new upload is a new image with a new ID. Choose the image again in that place. See Deleting images.
Why is the copy called logo.webp and not logo.png.webp?
PixEncoder saves the copy beside the original using only the new extension. If two images share a name in the same folder, their copies are named logo-jpg.webp and logo-png.webp so they never overwrite each other.
Do I need to change my pages or Elementor layouts?
No. Your pages keep using the original image addresses. The server sends the WebP copy to browsers that support it, so existing pages, Elementor layouts and CSS backgrounds benefit without being edited.
Where do the WebP copies appear?
Each WebP copy is added to the Media Library as a separate item. Use the Media | Optimized switch in the Media Library or on the Images screen to switch between your originals and the WebP copies. When you choose images in a page, the Optimized Library tab lists the WebP images.
Will renaming an image break my pages?
Not with PixEncoder Pro. When you rename an image on the Images screen, Pro updates every page, template, widget and setting on your site that uses it, including addresses that still point at a deleted original .png. Only links from other websites and search engine results keep the old name. PixEncoder Lite renames the file only, so pages that use the image need updating by hand.
Which web servers are supported?
PixEncoder needs PHP’s GD image library with WebP support, which almost every host provides. Automatic delivery uses an .htaccess rule on Apache and LiteSpeed. On Nginx, set Delivery to Picture tags in Settings. The Status messages box on the Dashboard tells you if your server is missing anything.
Does it work with a CDN or page cache?
Yes. The page HTML does not change, so page caches keep working. Some CDNs keep only one version of each image; if the delivery test on the Dashboard reports a problem, set Delivery to Picture tags.
Are my images sent to an outside service?
No. Images are converted on your own server with the image tools built into PHP. There is no API and no credits.
What happens if I uninstall PixEncoder?
Switching either plugin off removes its server rules. Uninstalling PixEncoder Lite also removes its settings. Uninstalling PixEncoder Pro removes the licence and update records and keeps the settings, so PixEncoder Lite can carry on where Pro left off. Either way, image files and backups are left in place so nothing is lost; the backups are in wp-content/uploads/pixencoder-backups.