PNG vs JPG: which one should you actually use?
Get a one-line rule for choosing a format, then drop your own image into the converter and compare the file sizes side by side.
Use PNG for transparency, text and screenshots, and JPG for ordinary photos. The real choice is lossless vs. lossy, and transparency vs. photography. To see what it means for your own file, drop the image into the image converter for PNG, JPG and WebP: it shows the original size next to the converted size, so you can compare the formats on your actual image instead of trusting a rule of thumb. Everything runs in your browser and nothing gets uploaded.
Why is a PNG photo so much heavier than the JPG?
PNG uses lossless compression: it rebuilds the file pixel-for-pixel, identical to the source. That works great when an image has few repeated colors (a logo, an icon, a UI screenshot) because the compressor finds patterns to squeeze out. But a real photograph is full of smooth gradients and sensor noise: millions of nearly unique color values, pixel by pixel. Lossless compression finds almost nothing to compress there, and the file stays heavy.
JPG takes a different approach: it throws away information the human eye barely perceives (mostly fine color detail) and compresses aggressively what's left. The result is that a photo weighing, say, 8 MB as PNG might weigh 1 MB as JPG, with minimal visible difference. The exact ratio varies from image to image, which is why testing yours beats trusting any single number. It is also the technical reason almost no website serves photos as PNG: the file-size savings from JPG translate directly into faster page loads.
Check your own image before you decide
The converter makes the comparison concrete in a few steps:
- Drop in the image. It accepts PNG, JPG, WebP, AVIF, GIF and BMP, up to 50 files at a time.
- Pick the output format. PNG and JPG are always offered. WebP and AVIF are enabled only if your browser can generate them, and the tool disables the option otherwise (recent browsers handle WebP without trouble).
- Set the quality. The slider starts at 85%. For JPG and WebP, lower values give smaller files and more visible compression.
- Read the sizes. Each file shows its original size, then an arrow, then the converted size, and a batch total. Download one file or all of them as a ZIP.
Converting JPG to PNG doesn't recover quality
This is a common misconception: someone has a JPG with visible compression artifacts and converts it to PNG hoping to "fix" the image. It doesn't work that way. JPG's lossy compression already decided, at the moment the original file was saved, what information to throw away, and that decision can't be undone. The resulting PNG contains exactly the same artifacts, just stored in a larger file, since PNG doesn't compress lossily on top. You're converting the container, not the quality.
The only real way to recover quality is to start from an uncompressed or less-compressed original and re-export from there. If all you have is the degraded JPG, no converter can invent detail that no longer exists.
Why does my PNG turn white when I convert it to JPG?
If your image needs transparent areas (a logo that sits on different colored backgrounds, an icon, a UI element) the decision is already made: JPG has no alpha channel. Convert a transparent PNG to JPG and the converter has to fill those areas with a solid color. White is the default, which is exactly why you sometimes see a logo suddenly gain a white box around it after conversion. In the converter you can change that background color before you convert, which helps when the logo will sit on a dark page.
For logos and graphics that need transparency, WebP is worth considering as an alternative to PNG: it also supports an alpha channel but compresses better. And if the logo is made of simple shapes (text, lines, basic geometry) it's worth asking whether you need a pixel format at all. An SVG weighs a fraction of either and stays sharp at any size. You can convert between PNG/JPG and SVG with the SVG converter.
Text and screenshots: why JPG produces halos
JPG compresses by splitting the image into blocks and smoothing transitions within each block, which is great for photographic gradients and bad for hard edges. Text, UI icons, and straight lines all have an abrupt color change from one pixel to the next, and that's exactly where JPG compression produces visible color blotches and halos around the edge, often called "blocking artifacts."
That's why screenshots, diagrams, and any image with readable text should be saved as PNG, never JPG. If the resulting PNG is too heavy, the fix isn't switching to JPG and losing sharpness. It's shrinking the dimensions with the image resizer or compressing the PNG without quality loss using the image compressor.
Generation loss: re-saving a JPG degrades it every time
Every time you open a JPG, edit it (even a simple crop) and save it again, the app runs a fresh pass of lossy compression on data that already lost information in the previous save. This is called generation loss: after several open-edit-save cycles, new blotches and halos appear that weren't in the original file, even if you never changed the quality setting.
PNG doesn't have this problem, because its compression is lossless and reversible: opening and re-saving a PNG a hundred times produces exactly the same pixels on the hundredth save as the first. If you're editing an image across several steps (crop, adjust, crop again), work in PNG throughout and export to JPG only once, at the very end.
Favicons and icons: a case where neither one wins outright
Favicons are a good example of why "PNG vs. JPG" is sometimes the wrong question. They need transparency (which rules out JPG), but they're also displayed at tiny sizes and on high-density screens, where file weight barely matters since they're a few kilobytes in any format. PNG is the practical choice here, and you can generate one directly with the favicon generator.
When should I use neither PNG nor JPG?
For most photos published on the web, PNG is the wrong default: it costs too much file weight for the benefit it provides. But JPG isn't always optimal either. Modern formats like WebP and AVIF combine the best of both: they compress photos better than JPG at comparable quality, and they support transparency like PNG. If your project and audience support them, they're almost always the better choice today, and the converter exports to WebP right alongside PNG and JPG.
And when the content isn't a photo but a vector drawing (a logo, an icon, a simple line illustration) the right answer is usually neither pixel format: an SVG weighs less than both and never loses sharpness, no matter what size it's displayed at.
Quick reference
- Photo with no transparency: JPG (or better, WebP).
- Logo, icon, or anything with transparency: PNG (or WebP if size matters).
- Screenshot, text, diagram: PNG. JPG produces visible halos.
- Editing across multiple steps: work in PNG, export to JPG only at the end.
- Simple geometric shape (logo, icon): consider SVG before either pixel format.
Frequently asked questions
Why is a PNG so much bigger than the equivalent JPG?
Because PNG is lossless: it stores the exact value of every pixel. A photograph has millions of subtle, non-repeating color variations, so lossless compression barely shrinks it. JPG is built specifically for photos: it discards detail the eye rarely notices and compresses far more aggressively. For an ordinary photo, a PNG is typically several times heavier than a visually similar JPG, and the exact ratio depends on the image.
If I convert a JPG to PNG, do I get the lost quality back?
No. JPG's compression artifacts are already baked into the pixel data, so converting the file to PNG just stores those same artifacts losslessly, in a bigger file. It's like photocopying a blurry photocopy onto better paper: the blur doesn't go away, only the paper changes. The only fix is re-exporting from a higher-quality original, if you still have one.
Why does my PNG turn white when I convert it to JPG?
JPG has no alpha channel, so it can't represent transparency at all. If your PNG has transparent areas, as logos often do, the converter has to fill them with a solid color when it saves as JPG, and the default is white. If you need to keep transparency, JPG simply isn't an option; stick with PNG or move to WebP.
JPG or PNG for screenshots and text?
PNG. JPG's block-based compression assumes smooth photographic gradients, and it struggles with the hard edges in text, UI icons, and straight lines, producing visible color halos and blotches around every letter. PNG reproduces sharp edges exactly, which is why screenshots and diagrams should never be saved as JPG.
Does re-saving a JPG multiple times degrade it further?
Yes, and this is called generation loss. Every time you open a JPG, edit it, and save again, a fresh round of lossy compression runs on data that already lost information in the previous save. After a few cycles, new blotches and halos appear that weren't in the original. PNG doesn't have this problem: its compression is lossless and reversible, so opening and re-saving never loses data.
When is neither PNG nor JPG the right answer?
When you want photographic quality at a smaller file size than PNG. That's what WebP and AVIF are for: modern formats that compress photos better than JPG while also supporting transparency like PNG. And if the content is a logo or icon made of simple shapes, you may not need a pixel format at all: SVG represents it as vectors, at a fraction of the file size and with perfect sharpness at any scale.
Convert your image now
PNG, JPG, or WebP, processed 100% in your browser. Free, no daily limit.
Open image converter →Related tools
- Convert image to PNG, JPG, or WebP: the main converter for this article.
- Compress image: shrink a PNG or JPG without changing format.
- Resize image: adjust dimensions before or after converting.
- Convert to SVG: when the content is vector art, neither PNG nor JPG is the answer.
You might also like: converting HEIC to JPG.