JPG vs PNG vs WebP: Which Image Format Should You Use?
Three formats cover almost every image on the web, and picking the wrong one either bloats your file or makes it look bad. Here is how they differ and a simple way to choose.
The short answer
- Photographs: JPG (or WebP if the destination supports it).
- Screenshots, logos, text, diagrams, anything with sharp edges or flat colour: PNG.
- Transparent background: PNG or WebP — never JPG.
- Website images where size matters: WebP, with JPG/PNG as the fallback.
JPG: the photo workhorse
JPG (or JPEG) uses lossy compression. It throws away detail the human eye is least likely to notice, which is why a 12-megapixel photo can shrink from tens of megabytes to a couple. Photographs have smooth gradients and noisy textures, exactly what JPG handles well.
The costs: it has no transparency, and every time you re-save a JPG it is compressed again, adding small artefacts. At very low quality settings you see blocky patches, and around sharp text or thin lines you get a faint fuzz. Quality settings between about 75 and 90 are the usual sweet spot.
PNG: sharp and lossless
PNG compresses without losing any information, so a screenshot or logo comes back pixel for pixel. It supports full transparency, including soft edges such as drop shadows. That makes it the right choice for interface screenshots, icons, charts and images that contain text.
The downside is size. Try saving a busy photograph as PNG and you may get a file five to ten times larger than the JPG, with no visible benefit. PNG is a poor fit for photos and for large images on web pages.
WebP: the modern middle ground
Google's WebP can do both lossy and lossless compression, supports transparency, and can even be animated. At comparable visual quality, lossy WebP is usually about 25–35% smaller than JPG, and lossless WebP is typically noticeably smaller than PNG. All current major browsers display it.
Where it still trips people up is outside the browser: some older desktop programs, email clients, print services and upload forms don't accept it. If you are handing the file to a person or a form rather than a web page, JPG or PNG is the safer bet.
Quick comparison
- Compression: JPG lossy · PNG lossless · WebP either.
- Transparency: JPG no · PNG yes · WebP yes.
- Best for: JPG photos · PNG graphics and screenshots · WebP web delivery.
- Compatibility: JPG universal · PNG universal · WebP browsers and modern software.
Common mistakes
- Converting a JPG to PNG to "improve quality". It can't. The detail already lost stays lost; you just get a bigger file. Converting is only useful when you need PNG's features, such as adding transparency afterwards.
- Saving screenshots as JPG. Text looks smudgy. Use PNG.
- Uploading full-resolution camera photos to a website. A phone photo is often 4000 pixels wide; a page rarely displays it wider than 1200–2000. Resize first, then compress.
- Repeatedly editing and re-saving a JPG. Keep an original and export a fresh copy each time.
A sensible workflow
Start with the original, resize to the largest size you will actually display, then compress. For a photo that means JPG at around 80% quality; for a logo, PNG. Compare the file size before and after — if a "compressed" file is larger than the original, keep the original. Our compressor runs in your browser, so the images you are working with are never uploaded.
Frequently asked questions
Is PNG higher quality than JPG?
PNG is lossless, so it preserves an image exactly, but that does not make a photo look better. For photographs the two look practically identical at good JPG settings, and the JPG is much smaller.
Should I convert all my images to WebP?
For a website, it is a good idea. For files you share with people or upload to forms, keep JPG or PNG for compatibility.
Which format is best for printing?
A high-quality JPG is normal for photo prints. What matters more than the format is having enough pixels for the print size.
What about GIF?
GIF is limited to 256 colours and mostly survives for simple animations. A short WebP or video clip is usually smaller and looks better.