Three formats cover almost everything you'll do with images online: JPG, PNG and WebP. They're built for different jobs, and using the wrong one means bigger files, blurry graphics or rejected uploads. Here's how to choose, in plain terms.
JPG — the universal choice for photos
JPG (or JPEG) is lossy: it throws away detail the eye barely notices to make files small, and it's brilliant at that for photographs. Faces, landscapes, anything with smooth gradients of colour compresses beautifully. Its weaknesses are sharp edges and text — a screenshot saved as JPG gets fuzzy halos around letters — and it can't store transparency. But for camera photos and maximum compatibility, JPG is the safe default. Every device and portal on earth reads it.
PNG — for graphics, screenshots and transparency
PNG is lossless: it reproduces every pixel exactly, which makes it right for logos, icons, diagrams, screenshots and anything with crisp edges or flat colour. It also supports transparency, so a logo can sit on any background. The cost is size — a photograph saved as PNG can be many times larger than the same photo as JPG, which is why you should never use PNG for camera photos you need to keep small.
WebP — the modern all-rounder
WebP is the newer format designed for the web, and it's genuinely better on paper: typically 25–35% smaller than a JPG or PNG at comparable quality, with support for both lossy and lossless modes and transparency. Every current browser displays it. The one catch is that some older upload systems and legacy software still don't accept it — which is the most common reason people need to convert a WebP back to JPG.
Quick decision guide
- A photo for a form or email: JPG.
- A logo, icon or screenshot: PNG.
- An image for a website you control: WebP, for the smallest size.
- A portal rejected your WebP: convert to JPG.
What happens when you convert
Converting is easy with the image converter, but two things are worth knowing. First, going from a transparent PNG to JPG fills the transparent areas with white, because JPG can't hold transparency — fine for most photos, surprising for a logo. Second, converting between lossy formats (JPG to WebP and back) re-compresses the image each time, so quality slowly degrades with repeated round trips; convert from your best original rather than from a copy that's already been through the mill. If you also need the result under a size limit, chain the converter with the image compressor.