Disclosed is a processor-implemented method for processing image data comprising a plurality of pixels and system for performing the method. The method includes the following acts: determining at least one type of data represented by the plurality of pixels, determining, for each type of data, a number of pixels from the image data representing that type of data in the image data, and determining a compression scheme for compressing the image data based on a relative or absolute amount of each type of data in accordance with a predetermined scheme. The type of data may be determined by received input (e.g., user selected type and compression quality) or by analyzing its pixels and comparing it to thresholds. Basing the compression technique on the data type allows for better selection of a compression technique (e.g., MRC or JPEG), and thus greater image quality, compression ratios, and file size.