Picking an image format feels like a technical detail, but it has a real effect on how fast your pages load, how sharp your graphics look and whether a file opens at all on someone else’s device.
There are four formats you’ll meet constantly: JPG, PNG, WebP and AVIF. Each one is good at something and bad at something else. Once you know which is which, the choice usually takes about two seconds.
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Open tool — freeThe quick answer
If you only remember one thing, make it this:
- Photos on a website: WebP or AVIF, with JPG as a fallback.
- Logos, icons, screenshots and graphics with text: PNG or lossless WebP, or SVG if you have a vector version.
- Anything that needs transparency: PNG, WebP or AVIF. Never JPG.
- Email, printing, uploading to forms and maximum compatibility: JPG for photos, PNG for graphics.
The rest of this guide explains why.
The four formats explained
JPG
JPG, also written JPEG, has been the standard photo format for decades. It uses lossy compression tuned for photographs, which means it throws away detail your eye is unlikely to miss. It’s supported by every browser, phone, camera, printer and image editor you’ll ever use.
Its weaknesses: no transparency, and sharp edges or text pick up fuzzy artifacts. Every time you edit and re-save a JPG, it loses a little more quality.
PNG
PNG is lossless. Every pixel is stored exactly, which makes it ideal for screenshots, diagrams, logos and anything with crisp lines or text. It also supports full transparency with smooth, soft edges.
The downside is size. Save a photograph as PNG and the file can be several times larger than a good JPG with no visible benefit.
WebP
WebP was developed by Google as an all-round web format. It can be lossy or lossless, supports transparency and even animation. For most images, WebP files are noticeably smaller than an equivalent JPG or PNG.
All major current browsers display WebP. Support in older desktop software and some upload forms is still patchier, so it’s best treated as a web delivery format rather than a format for sharing files with people.
AVIF
AVIF is the newest of the four, based on the AV1 video codec. For photos, it often beats WebP on file size at the same visual quality, especially at lower quality settings where it avoids the blockiness JPG is known for. It supports transparency, high dynamic range and wide color.
Current versions of the major browsers support AVIF, but encoding is slower and plenty of editors, CMS plugins and older devices still don’t handle it. Many sites serve AVIF to browsers that accept it and fall back to WebP or JPG for the rest.
Side-by-side comparison
| Format | Compression | Transparency | Best for | Main drawback |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| JPG | Lossy | No | Photos, email, printing, maximum compatibility | Larger than modern formats, artifacts on text and edges |
| PNG | Lossless | Yes | Screenshots, logos, diagrams, graphics with text | Very large files for photos |
| WebP | Lossy or lossless | Yes | Almost all website images | Weaker support outside browsers |
| AVIF | Lossy or lossless | Yes | Photos where the smallest file matters | Slow encoding, limited editing support |
Photos vs graphics: the real deciding factor
The content of the image matters more than any feature list.
Photographs have smooth gradients, noise and millions of subtly different colors. Lossy formats handle these brilliantly because small changes are invisible. Use WebP or AVIF for the web and JPG when compatibility matters.
Graphics like logos, charts, interface screenshots and illustrations have flat colors and hard edges. Lossy compression smears those edges and creates halos around text. Lossless PNG or lossless WebP keeps them clean, and the files stay small because flat areas compress well.
A common mistake is saving a screenshot of a spreadsheet as JPG. The text ends up surrounded by gray speckles. Save it as PNG and it looks exactly like the screen.
How to convert between formats
Our free image converter handles PNG, JPG, WebP and AVIF, and it works entirely in your browser, so your images aren’t uploaded.
- Upload the image you want to convert. Start from the highest-quality version you have.
- Choose the target format, such as WebP for a website or JPG for an email attachment.
- For lossy formats, pick a quality setting. Around 75 to 85 is a sensible starting point for photos.
- Convert and compare the result with the original at normal viewing size.
- Download the converted file.
Converting won’t add quality that isn’t there. Turning a heavily compressed JPG into PNG just gives you a bigger file with the same artifacts. And if you convert a transparent PNG to JPG, the transparent areas get filled with a solid color.
For file size advice beyond format choice, see our guide on compressing images for a faster website. If you’re dealing with iPhone photos, our HEIC vs JPG guide covers that format.
What about browser support
JPG and PNG work everywhere. WebP and AVIF are supported by the current versions of the major browsers, but very old browsers and some embedded web views may not display them.
If you need to support everything, the HTML picture element lets you list AVIF, then WebP, then JPG, and each browser picks the first one it understands. Many WordPress image plugins and CDNs do this automatically. Check your plugin’s documentation rather than assuming.
A simple rule set to keep
Use WebP as your default for website images, try AVIF for large photos where every kilobyte counts, use PNG for screenshots and graphics with text, and keep JPG for anything leaving your website: email, printing, and forms that only accept the classics. That covers nearly every situation you’ll run into. And if a converted file is still heavier than you’d like, a pass through an image compressor usually trims it further without visible loss.
Frequently asked questions
Is WebP better than JPG?
For websites, usually yes. WebP files are typically smaller than JPG at similar quality and also support transparency, but JPG is still the safer choice for email attachments, printing and older software.
Should I use AVIF instead of WebP?
AVIF often produces smaller photos than WebP at the same visual quality, and current major browsers support it. It is slower to encode and less widely supported in editing tools, so many sites serve AVIF with a WebP or JPG fallback.
Which image format supports transparency?
PNG, WebP and AVIF all support transparency. JPG does not, so any transparent area becomes a solid color, usually white or black, when you save as JPG.
