JPG, PNG, WebP: you’ve typed those extensions a hundred times without thinking about them. Pick the wrong one, though, and your image ends up blurry, three times bigger than it needs to be, or missing the transparent background you were counting on. Here’s how to tell them apart and choose the right one in a couple of seconds.
JPG (JPEG): best for photographs
JPG uses “lossy” compression, which cleverly throws away detail your eye is unlikely to notice. That makes it excellent for photos and any image with smooth gradients and lots of colours: sunsets, portraits, product shots. File sizes stay small, which keeps pages fast.
Use JPG when: the image is a photograph and doesn’t need transparency.
Avoid JPG when: the image has sharp edges, text, or flat areas of colour (like logos or screenshots); JPG creates blurry “artifacts” around those edges. It also can’t store a transparent background.
PNG: best for graphics, logos, and transparency
PNG uses “lossless” compression, so nothing is thrown away; every pixel is preserved exactly. That makes text crisp and edges clean, which is ideal for logos, icons, screenshots, and diagrams. PNG also supports transparency, so you can place a logo on any background.
Use PNG when: you need transparency, or the image has sharp text and hard edges.
Avoid PNG when: the image is a full-colour photograph; PNG files of photos are often several times larger than the equivalent JPG for no visible benefit.
WebP: the modern all-rounder
WebP is Google’s newer format that supports both lossy and lossless compression and transparency, essentially the strengths of JPG and PNG in one. For the same visual quality, WebP files are typically 25–35% smaller than JPG and much smaller than PNG. Every modern browser now supports it, which is why it’s become the default recommendation for the web.
Use WebP when: you’re publishing images on a website and want the fastest possible load times.
Be careful when: a file needs to open in older desktop software or be handed to someone who expects a “standard” photo; a JPG is still the safest universal choice.
Quick decision guide
- Photograph for the web? → WebP (or JPG as a safe fallback)
- Logo or icon with transparency? → PNG (or WebP)
- Screenshot with text? → PNG
- Emailing a photo to someone? → JPG
- Print or archiving the original? → keep the highest-quality source (often PNG or the camera’s original)
Converting between formats
Picked the wrong format, or received a huge PNG that should’ve been a JPG? You can switch formats in seconds with our free image converter, which handles JPG, PNG and WebP directly in your browser. If a photo is simply too large, run it through the image compressor first to cut the file size before you publish or send it.
Sometimes the answer isn’t another image format at all. If you’re sending scans or photos of paperwork to someone, a document is the better container — our guide to converting JPG to PDF covers getting the page order, orientation and file size right.
A note on file size and page speed
Image weight is one of the biggest factors in how fast a web page loads, and page speed affects both user experience and search rankings. As a rule of thumb: choose WebP, resize the image to the largest size it will actually be displayed at, and compress it. Uploading a 4000-pixel-wide photo to show in a 600-pixel box wastes bandwidth on every visit.
Common format questions
Is WebP always better than JPG?
For the web, usually yes: smaller files at the same quality. The main exception is compatibility with older, non-browser software, where JPG remains the universal standard.
Does converting PNG to JPG lose quality?
Slightly, because JPG is lossy, and you’ll lose any transparency. For photos the difference is negligible; for logos and text, keep the PNG.
Which format is best for transparency?
PNG and WebP both support transparent backgrounds. JPG does not.
So which one should you pick?
It really is that short: JPG for photos, PNG for graphics and transparency, WebP when you want the best of both on the web. Keep those three pairings in your head and you’ll rarely get it wrong. And when you do need to switch a file over, our image converter turns it into a one-click job.
Handy tools for this topic
70+ free tools, zero sign-up
Every ToolBrainy tool runs right in your browser — no accounts, no watermarks and no limits. Compress a PDF, generate a strong password, convert an image and plenty more.
