PNG vs JPG: which image format should you use?
The short answer: PNG for graphics, screenshots and anything with transparency; JPG for photographs and anything that needs to be small. The rest of this guide explains why — and when it's worth converting from one to the other.
What PNG does best
PNG (Portable Network Graphics) is a lossless format: every pixel is stored exactly as it was, no matter how many times the file is saved or edited. It also supports transparency — any part of the image can be fully or partially see-through. That makes PNG the natural choice for screenshots, logos, icons, charts, images with text, and graphics layered on top of other designs.
The price is size. Storing every pixel faithfully takes space, so a photograph saved as PNG can easily weigh five to ten times more than the same photo as a JPG.
What JPG does best
JPG (or JPEG) is a lossy format built for photographs: it throws away detail your eyes barely notice to shrink the file dramatically. A camera photo saved at 85% quality looks identical to the original to nearly everyone — at a fraction of the size. That's why JPG remains the standard for photos on websites, in emails and on upload forms.
JPG's weaknesses are the flip side of its strengths: it has no transparency support (transparent areas become solid white or black), and every re-save re-compresses the image, so quality slowly degrades across many edits — known as generation loss.
PNG vs JPG at a glance
| PNG | JPG | |
|---|---|---|
| Compression | Lossless — pixel-perfect forever | Lossy — small quality loss on each save |
| Transparency | Yes, including soft edges | No — flattened to a solid background |
| Best for | Screenshots, logos, icons, graphics, text | Photos, hero images, anything size-sensitive |
| Photo file size | Large (often 5–10× bigger) | Small |
| Re-editing & re-saving | Safe — no quality build-up | Quality drops every time |
| Web page speed | Slower for big images | Faster pages, less bandwidth |
A simple decision rule
- Is it a screenshot, logo, icon, chart or graphic with text? → PNG.
- Does it need a transparent background? → PNG.
- Is it a photograph (or a photo with text stamped on it)? → JPG.
- Is a size limit the main problem (email, upload form, page speed)? → JPG, compressed.
- Will the image be edited again later? → keep a PNG master, export JPGs from it.
Converting between them
Converting is instant and free with our browser-based tools: the PNG to JPG converter shrinks PNGs for email and the web (transparent areas are filled white), and the JPG to PNG converter goes the other way when you need lossless quality or transparency support. For the smallest possible photos, combine the image compressor with a sensible quality level.
FAQ
Which is higher quality, PNG or JPG?
PNG, technically — it stores pixels losslessly. But “higher quality” isn't the whole story: a JPG at 85–90% quality looks identical to most eyes while weighing far less. Choose based on the image type and where it's going, not on format prestige.
Can JPG have a transparent background?
No. JPG has no alpha channel, so transparency is always flattened — usually to white. If you need see-through areas (a logo overlaying a page, a sticker, a chart on a colored background), PNG is the format.
Does converting PNG to JPG ruin the image?
No. At the default 90% quality the difference is practically invisible. The conversion is one-way though: the detail the JPG encoder discards is gone, so keep the original PNG if you might need it later.
What about WebP?
WebP is a modern format that does both lossy and lossless compression and usually beats JPG by 20–30% at the same quality. It's a great output target for the web — our compressor can produce it — but some older apps still can't open it, which is why our WebP to PNG/JPG converter exists too.