The short version
| Format | Best for |
| JPG | Photos you want to share or upload anywhere |
| PNG | Screenshots, logos, text and anything with transparency |
| WebP | Images on websites: smaller than both, with transparency |
| AVIF | The smallest web images, where support is not a concern |
| HEIC | Storing photos on Apple devices |
| GIF | Short, simple animations |
JPG
JPG compresses photos very well by discarding detail you are unlikely to notice. It has no transparency, and saving it again and again slowly lowers the quality. Every device and website accepts it.
PNG
PNG is lossless: every pixel is kept exactly, and transparency is supported. That makes it ideal for screenshots and graphics with sharp edges, but photos saved as PNG are several times larger than as JPG. Compress PNG can shrink graphics a lot by reducing their colors.
WebP
WebP, made by Google, is usually 25–35% smaller than JPG at the same quality and supports transparency and animation. All current browsers show it, but some older apps and upload forms reject it; WebP to JPG fixes that.
AVIF
AVIF is newer and smaller still. Current Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari open it, but many other programs do not yet.
HEIC
HEIC is what iPhones save photos as. It is about half the size of JPG, but Windows and many websites cannot open it without help; HEIC to JPG converts it.
GIF
GIF is limited to 256 colors, so it suits simple animations rather than photos. For video clips, Video to GIF picks the best 256 colors for each clip.
The same images in each format
Typical sizes for a 1200 × 800 image, which vary with the picture's content:
| Format | A photo | A screenshot of text |
|---|---|---|
| PNG | 2 MB | 90 KB |
| JPG, quality 80 | 180 KB | 250 KB, with fuzzy edges |
| WebP, quality 80 | 120 KB | 60 KB |
Photos have smooth gradients that JPG and WebP compress well. Screenshots have sharp edges and few colors, which PNG stores exactly and JPG smears.
Common mistakes
- Saving a photo as PNG. The file is ten times larger with no visible gain. Keep PNG for graphics and transparency.
- Re-saving a JPG again and again. Each save loses a little more. Keep an original, edit from it, and export a new JPG each time.
- Expecting transparency to survive a JPG. JPG has no transparency; transparent areas become black or white. Use PNG or WebP.
- Uploading WebP or HEIC to a form. Many forms accept only JPG or PNG. Convert first, rather than renaming the file, since the extension does not change the contents.