Image editing application Pixelmator will be integrating Google’s WebP image technology in a new version due to be released very soon, the team told The Loop on Monday.

[ad#Google Adsense 300×250 in story]According to Google’s technology page, “WebP is a method of lossy compression that can be used on photographic images. The degree of compression is adjustable so a user can choose the trade-off between file size and image quality.”

The WebP option will be included in the “Export for Web” dialog box in Pixelmator. Current export options include JPEG, GIF, PNG and PNG Indexed.

Google says Webmasters can benefit from using the technology because it can provide a faster user experience on a site, and it will reduce bandwidth and hosting costs.