To store an image, large quantities of digital data are required. Due to limited bandwidth, image must be compressed before transmission. However, image compression reduces the image fidelity, when an image is compressed at low bitrates. Hence, the compressed images suffer from block artifacts. To meet this, several compression schemes have been developed in image processing. This study presents an overview of compression techniques for image applications. It covers the lossy and lossless compression algorithm used for still image and other applications. The focus of this article is based on the overview of VLSI DCT architecture for image compression. Further, this new approach may provide better results.