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.