The versatile method of spatial and SNR scalable picture compression comprises: high resolution encoding (202a) an input picture (vi) yielding high resolution encoded data (coHR,LQ), being the base data; deriving a first down-scaled representative picture (p1) on the basis of the high resolution encoded data (coHR,LQ); deriving a second down-scaled representative picture (p2) on the basis of the input picture (vi); and lower resolution encoding (214) lower resolution quality enhancement data (coMR,MQ), usable for improving the visual quality of a picture reconstructable from the high resolution encoded data (coHR,LQ), on the basis of comparing the first down-scaled representative picture (p1) with the second down-scaled representative picture. This enables good bit-rate distribution for multi-resolution, multi-quality users.