FW Editor: There isn't much information about Ardell Alarion, the developer. Can you tell us a few things about yourself?
Matteo Paonessa: Actually, my real name is Matteo Paonessa and I'm Italian. Ardell Alarion is only an old fashioned nickname. I started programming in C, Python and in .NET in 2005 and now I'm studing IT at the University of Pisa.

FW Editor: Caesium was designed to allow image compression without any quality losses. How is that possible?
Matteo Paonessa: Images, in particular JPEGs, can be compressed cutting out useless informations: the risult can be a smaller picture that as the same visible quality. But is the final user who has to decide what "no quality loss" means for him: every single person uses Caesium for different purpouses and can accept different compromises.

FW Editor: During testing, we have noticed that increasing the image quality it will greatly increase the image size as well (up to 400%). Was this intended?
Matteo Paonessa: Some image is still compressed. For example, most of the photo retouching softwares allow to compress pictures during the saving process. If an image is still compressed the work becames very hard and you will probably notice a size increase.

FW Editor: Caesium is available as both Windows installer and portable version. Is there any difference between these two versions?
Matteo Paonessa: No, there's no difference (in terms of features) between these two versions. The Windows Installer can only allows you to create a Desktop Icon and a Start Menu Shortcut automatically.

FW Editor: In description it says that Caesium is using an intelligent compression method. Can you tell us more about this compression method?
Matteo Paonessa: The software is stable but can be improved significantly. Now Caesium use the stardard .NET (GDI+) compression method, but I'm working on a better algorithm.

FW Editor: How would you characterize Caesium? From your point of view, is Caesium the best image compressor available at this moment?
Matteo Paonessa: No, is not the best, but is a good choice (maybe is the best free tool for batch processing). There're some commercial image compressors that use a worst algorithm than Caesium's one and ask for payment. Also there're both commercial and free tools that can compress (single) images better than Caesium. My software is structured to be simple (not everyone needs advanced and incomprehensible options), handy, and user-friendly. My goal is to reach professional results with semplicity, because Caesium is designed for everyone.