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Guide

JPG vs PNG: which should you use?

Two formats that solve different problems — here's how to pick correctly, plus free tools to convert, compress, or resize either one.

The short answer

JPG for photographs, PNG for graphics. That single rule covers the large majority of cases: JPG's lossy compression makes photos small with no visible quality loss; PNG's lossless, transparency-capable format keeps flat colors, text, and sharp edges crisp in a way JPG's compression tends to blur.

JPGPNG
Compression Lossy — smaller files, some quality trade-off Lossless — larger files, pixel-exact
Transparency Not supported Fully supported
Best for Photographs, complex images with gradients Logos, screenshots, text, flat-color graphics
Typical file size Smaller Larger, especially for photographic content
Edge sharpness Can blur/smudge sharp edges at lower quality Always pixel-exact

Why the difference exists

JPG's compression works by discarding image detail that's least noticeable to the human eye — subtle color gradients in a photograph hide this well, which is exactly why JPG was designed for photography. Applied to a screenshot or logo, the same compression becomes visible as fuzzy edges around text or flat color boundaries, because there's no gradient noise to hide the loss in. PNG never discards anything, so it never introduces that artifact — the cost is a larger file, especially for photographic content where PNG can't compress as efficiently as JPG's lossy approach.

Transparency: PNG's other advantage

JPG has no concept of transparency — every pixel is some solid color. PNG supports a full alpha channel, so parts of the image can be partially or fully see-through. This matters for a logo placed over different colored backgrounds, an icon, or any image (like a background-removed photo) meant to be layered over something else. Converting a JPG to PNG doesn't create transparency that wasn't there — you'd need to actually remove the background first, e.g. with Remove Background, which outputs a genuinely transparent PNG.

What to do with each

Is PNG always higher quality than JPG?
PNG is lossless, so it never introduces the compression artifacts JPG can, but that doesn't make it strictly "better" — for a photograph, JPG's much smaller file size usually costs no visible quality at a reasonable setting, while PNG's losslessness matters more for flat-color graphics, text, and anything needing transparency, where JPG's compression tends to blur edges.
Why is my PNG file so much bigger than a JPG of the same image?
PNG doesn't discard any image data, so a complex photo (lots of color gradients and detail) compresses much less efficiently as PNG than as JPG, which is designed specifically to exploit the kind of detail loss that's invisible to the eye in photographic content. A screenshot or logo, by contrast, often compresses very efficiently as PNG since it has large areas of flat, repeated color.
Can I convert a JPG to PNG to get transparency?
No — converting a JPG to PNG changes the file format but can't add transparency that was never there, since a JPG has no transparency data to begin with (it's typically an opaque background color, often white). To get an actual transparent background, you need to remove the background from the image itself, not just convert the file format.
Which format should I use for a website?
JPG for photographs (product photos, banner images) since page load speed benefits from the smaller file size. PNG for logos, icons, and any graphic needing a transparent background. Most websites use a mix of both for exactly this reason.
Is my image uploaded anywhere when I use these tools?
No — conversion, compression, and resizing all happen locally in your browser using the Canvas API. Your images never leave your device.

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