Product Images Folder 12GB

[crave81]

hello,

My site is Joomla 3.9 site with Vituemart 3.4.2

The public_html/images/virtuemart/product directory is 12GB and has hundreds of images that are over 500kb and dozens over 10MB. I also noticed that there is a subdirectory public_html/images/virtuemart/product/resized

Are the images in the /virtuemart/product directory in use on the website? Or are only the /virtuemart/product/resized  files in use? Is it safe to delete large images from /virtuemart/product? If not, how can I reduce this directory down to a manageable size without compromising how products are displayed on the front end?

Thanks in advance!

[Studio 42]

public_html/images/virtuemart/product/resized are for thumbs display(better for page speed)
public_html/images/virtuemart/product/ is your product folder, but if you dont use all files, you can remove unused images.
To fine manage images, you can use Vm Be Pro https://shop.st42.fr/en/products/vm-be-pro-batch-product-edit.htm The image view can display unused images, can resize existing images and call a server to optimize images.
I offer a free tool https://shop.st42.fr/en/categories-tools/virtuemart-media-folder-clear.htm to remove all orphans DB entries and files, but you cannot select files to keep.

[AH]

The public_html/images/virtuemart/product directory is 12GB and has hundreds of images that are over 500kb and dozens over 10MB. I also noticed that there is a subdirectory public_html/images/virtuemart/product/resized

These are folders for the product images you have uploaded

Are the images in the /virtuemart/product directory in use on the website?

They are yes.  If you are uploading 10mb images then that is what will be in the product folder

The resized folder is for smaller images based on your VM configuration and are for smaller display in product and category browse

vm ->admin->configuration->templates tab -> Media Files Settings

how can I reduce this directory down to a manageable size without compromising how products are displayed

You have to resize your images before you upload them to your website - this is not an issue with VM but an issue with the size of images you are uploading for your products.