How to write WebP images in Java (Tutorial)

How to write a WebP image with ImageIO

1. Download webp-imageio plugin and add it to your classpath.
2. Create a File (or OutputStream) object
3. Pass image, WebP type, and File (or OutputStream) object into write method

and the the Java code to write WebP with ImageIO…

File file = new File("/path/to/outputFile.webp");

ImageIO.write(bufferedImage, "webp", file);

How to write a WebP image with JDeli

1. Add JDeli to your class or module path. (download link to the trial jar).
2. Create a File (or OutputStream) object
3. Pass image, WEBP type, and File (or OutputStream) object into write method

and the Java code to write WebP with JDeli…

File file = new File("/path/to/outputFile.webp");

JDeli.write(bufferedImage, "webp", file);


//In JDeli you can also use a typesafe version

JDeli.write(bufferedImage, OutputFormat.WEBP, file);


//or pass in a WebpEncoderOptions object for more control over output.


WebpEncoderOptions options = new WebpEncoderOptions();

JDeli.write(bufferedImage, options, file);

In below picture, my original file was a .jpg image, and I used JDeli to write it out as a .webp image.

More on WebP

What are WebP files used for?

The WebP file format was developed by Google to provide high-quality lossy and lossless compression for web images. In this article, I will walk you through how to write out images as WebP images in Java. We also have a related article covering how to read WebP files in Java.

ImageIO does not support WebP images by default so you will need to use an ImageIO plugin or a WebP Java library. I will demonstrate using an Open source ImageIO plugin (which extends ImageIO to provide WebP support), and using the JDeli Image Library.

Which web browsers support WebP?

WebP is supported by the most popular web browsers including Google chrome, Safari, Microsoft edge, Mozilla firefox and many more.