# Convert an image or resize it using macOS Shortcuts

> Learn how to convert any image to JPG or resize it on macOS using the Shortcuts app, set up as a Finder Quick Action you can trigger with a right-click.

Author: [Flavio Copes](https://flaviocopes.com/about/) | Published: 2021-11-06 | Topics: [Mac](https://flaviocopes.com/tags/mac/) | Canonical: https://flaviocopes.com/macos-shortcuts-images/

For the longest time I've had an Automator script to convert images to JPG.

It's something I do all the time, because the difference between PNG images and JPG for some things is huge. It depends on the image.

Sometimes converting an image to JPG can mean a 5x reduction in size in some cases. In other cases, not really. With big images, it's worth a try.

(PNG is nicer because of transparent background, but there's a balance between file size and beauty).

macOS Monterey, the latest macOS version, comes with a tool that's basically going to replace Automator in the future, I think, and has been available in iOS and iPadOS for some time: Shortcuts.

I've never used this app on those platforms. I never had the need to do anything fancy.

But since moving to a new Mac, I decided to re-do my little automations. I don't have many. I just have this one to convert any image to JPG, and another one to resize the images to 1200px.

In this post I want to describe how to do the first.

Open Shortcuts:

![macOS Shortcuts app main window showing All Shortcuts tab with starter shortcuts including Shazam, Make GIF, Music Quiz, What's a shortcut, Convert to JPG, and Resize to 1200px](https://flaviocopes.com/images/macos-shortcuts-images/Screenshot_2021-11-05_at_19.58.32.png)

Click the `+` button, or from the menu select  `File -> New Shortcut`.

![New shortcut editor window with empty workflow area on the left and action search panel on the right showing categories and suggestions](https://flaviocopes.com/images/macos-shortcuts-images/Screenshot_2021-11-05_at_19.59.45.png)

Now on the right you can choose an action. Search "finder" and select the "Get Selected Files in Finder" action:

![Shortcuts action search showing finder typed in search box with Get Selected Files in Finder action highlighted in blue under Documents category](https://flaviocopes.com/images/macos-shortcuts-images/Screenshot_2021-11-05_at_20.00.33.png)

Drag it to the left part of the screen.

![Shortcut workflow showing Get Selected Files in Finder action added to the workflow with Convert Image action search in the right panel](https://flaviocopes.com/images/macos-shortcuts-images/Screenshot_2021-11-05_at_20.01.21.png)

Now select "Convert Image":

![Shortcut workflow showing Get Selected Files in Finder action added to the workflow with Convert Image action search in the right panel](https://flaviocopes.com/images/macos-shortcuts-images/Screenshot_2021-11-05_at_20.01.21.png)

In the settings tab on the right you can choose to use this shortcut as a Quick Action in the Finder, so you can right-click an image and you'll see the option to convert it to JPG:

![Shortcut settings panel showing Use as Quick Action checkbox enabled with Finder option selected, plus other platform options for iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch](https://flaviocopes.com/images/macos-shortcuts-images/Screenshot_2021-11-05_at_20.01.52.png)

![Finder context menu showing Quick Actions submenu with Convert to JPG option highlighted alongside other actions like Convert Image, Create PDF, and Resize to 1200px](https://flaviocopes.com/images/macos-shortcuts-images/Screenshot_2021-11-05_at_20.02.47.png)

Make sure you just set it to receive images by unselecting all the other file types in the first action:

![Shortcut content type selector showing Images checkbox selected under Media section, with other file types like Files, Folders, PDFs unselected](https://flaviocopes.com/images/macos-shortcuts-images/Screenshot_2021-11-05_at_20.02.15.png)

Finally, add a "Move File" action to save the converted file to the desktop:

![Complete shortcut workflow showing three connected actions: Get Selected Files in Finder, Convert File to JPEG, and Move Converted Image to Desktop](https://flaviocopes.com/images/macos-shortcuts-images/Screenshot_2021-11-05_at_20.03.44.png)

Unfortunately I didn't find a way to save the JPG to the current folder and replace the file selected. I imagine that by spending a little bit more time I can fix this, if you know how to do that, ping me @flaviocopes on Twitter 🙃 but it's not a big deal, I can live with this. And if I fnd it too cumbersome, I can always re-do the workflow in Automator. But at least I now know how to use Shortcuts.

Here's the shortcut to resize the image to 1200px:

![Resize image shortcut workflow showing Get Selected Files in Finder, Resize Image to Size 1200px with Auto Height, and Move Resized Image to Desktop actions](https://flaviocopes.com/images/macos-shortcuts-images/Screenshot_2021-11-05_at_20.04.31.png)