Data is received from a memory, which includes bitmap images, for output on an output device. The images may be stored in compressed or uncompressed form. The operating system, application or generic graphics environment program interface, queries the printer driver for the types of image compression formats supported by the printer. If the image is available in a compatible compressed format, that compressed image is read from memory. Alternatively or in addition, the best possible compression format supported by the printer is selected from the formats available in the printer driver. The image is then loaded in a printer compatible compression format or compressed using the selected format. The image is spooled in the selected compression format. The image file may be spooled as a raw file or metafile depending on the embodiment used. When needed by the printer or video display, the spool file containing the compressed image is accessed from storage, and the compressed image is sent directly to the printer or video display without allocating memory for decompressing the bitmap image or decompressing the image.