Formats
JPG vs PNG: Which Image Format Should You Use?
JPG is smaller, PNG is sharper and supports transparency. A plain-English comparison with examples, so you pick the right format for photos, logos, screenshots and the web.
· 2 min read · ConvertPixels Team
JPG and PNG are the two most common image formats, and they're built for different jobs. The short version: JPG for photos, PNG for graphics. Here's why.
The key difference
JPG uses lossy compression. It throws away detail your eye is unlikely to notice, which makes photos dramatically smaller.
PNG uses lossless compression. Every pixel is stored exactly, which keeps sharp edges and text perfect - but photos become large.
Side by side
| JPG | PNG | |
|---|---|---|
| Compression | Lossy | Lossless |
| Transparent background | No | Yes |
| Typical photo size (12 MP) | 2-4 MB | 15-25 MB |
| Best for | Photos | Logos, screenshots, graphics, text |
| Editing and re-saving | Loses a little detail each save | No loss |
When to use JPG
- Photos from a phone or camera
- Images for email, social media and upload forms
- Any time file size matters more than pixel-perfect detail
When to use PNG
- Logos and icons - especially with a transparent background
- Screenshots - text stays crisp, and files are often smaller than JPG
- Illustrations and graphics with flat colors
- Work in progress you'll edit again
A common mistake
Saving a screenshot as JPG creates faint smudges ("artifacts") around text. Saving a photo as PNG creates a huge file for no visible gain. If you've got one of these, switch it: PNG to JPG for photos, JPG to PNG to stop further loss on graphics (it can't undo artifacts already there).
What about WebP?
WebP does both jobs: lossy for photos, lossless for graphics, with transparency - and smaller files than either. Every current browser supports it, so it's the best choice for websites. For email, documents and older software, JPG and PNG are still the safer bet. Try JPG to WebP to see the difference on your own images.
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