JPG vs PNG: when to convert and why

Compare JPG/JPEG and PNG. Learn when to convert, when to compress, and how to pick the best image format for your use case.

JPG (JPEG) is designed for photographs and gradients. It uses lossy compression, which means you can compress images significantly by lowering quality. This is great for web galleries and camera photos.

PNG is lossless and supports transparency. It’s ideal for UI screenshots, logos, and images with sharp edges. The trade-off is file size: PNG can be much larger than JPG for photos.

If you need a smaller file for the web, consider converting PNG to WebP or converting JPG to AVIF/WebP. These modern formats often deliver better compression at similar quality.