PNG vs JPG: which format should you use?
The rule is simple: photographs want JPG, everything with flat colour, text or transparency wants PNG. The reasons are worth knowing, because the wrong choice can triple a file size for no visible benefit.
The difference in one line
PNG stores every pixel exactly - it is lossless - so it can reproduce sharp edges, text and transparency perfectly, at the cost of size. JPG throws away detail your eye is unlikely to notice, which makes photographs dramatically smaller but turns crisp text and hard edges into mush.
That single trade explains almost every case you will encounter. A screenshot of a document is mostly flat colour and text, so PNG keeps it crisp while JPG blurs it and, surprisingly, does not even save much space. A photograph is all subtle gradients, so JPG compresses it beautifully while PNG keeps every pixel nobody can see.
A decision table
| What you have | Use | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Photograph from a camera or phone | JPG (or WebP) | Lossy compression is far smaller and the loss is invisible |
| Screenshot of text or a UI | PNG | Sharp edges and text stay readable |
| Logo or icon | PNG or SVG | Flat colour, hard edges, often needs transparency |
| Image with a transparent background | PNG or WebP | JPG cannot store transparency at all |
| Image that will be edited repeatedly | PNG (or TIFF) | Lossless saves do not compound damage |
| Image for a website in 2026 | WebP, AVIF first | Smaller than both, with transparency |
Why a photograph as PNG can be huge
A 4000 × 3000 photograph has 12 million pixels. As JPG it might be 3 MB; as PNG the same image can exceed 20 MB, because PNG stores all 12 million pixels and only compresses their storage, not their information. Nothing about the picture is better - you are paying for detail that was never there in a photograph.
The same logic runs the other way: a screenshot that is 40 KB as PNG can become 200 KB as JPG at 90% quality, because the compression fights hard edges and produces artefacts the encoder then has to store. Text also becomes fuzzy, which is the worst possible outcome for a document.
What converting between them does
Converting JPG to PNG makes the file larger and recovers nothing - the detail JPG discarded is gone. It only makes sense if you need transparency added, or need to edit and re-save many times without further loss. Converting PNG to JPG shrinks the file but permanently discards the transparency and the extra colour depth; at low quality, text becomes visibly damaged.
If you are unsure, remember that the format you started with was probably chosen for a reason. Convert a copy, keep the original.
Tools used in this guide
PNG to JPG Converter
Convert PNG to JPG online: much smaller files for photos. No upload, no sign-up, no watermark - everything runs in your browser.
→JPG to PNG Converter
Convert JPG to PNG online: lossless output with transparency. No upload, no sign-up, no watermark - everything stays in your browser.
→PNG to WebP Converter
Convert PNG to WebP online: keep transparency and shrink the file dramatically. No upload, no sign-up, no watermark.
→Compress Image
Shrink JPG, PNG and WebP images with quality, output-format and maximum-width controls. Batch several files at once, compare before/after sizes and download everything as a ZIP.
→Cite this page
Free to cite. Copy the reference below, or link to this page directly.
PicConv. "PNG vs JPG: which format should you use?". https://picconv.com/guides/png-vs-jpg/ (accessed 2026-11-01).
Frequently asked questions
Is PNG higher quality than JPG?
PNG is lossless, so it never introduces artefacts - but that only matters for graphics, text and repeated editing. For a photograph, PNG is several times larger than JPG at a quality difference nobody can see on screen.
Why is my PNG file so large?
Because PNG is lossless and stores every pixel exactly. A photograph stored as PNG keeps all the detail that JPG would have discarded invisibly. Converting that photo to JPG or WebP typically cuts the size by 80-95% with no visible change.
Which format should I use for a logo?
PNG if it needs transparency and a fixed size, SVG if it should scale to any size without blurring. JPG is a poor choice for logos because hard edges and flat colour are exactly what lossy compression handles worst.
Can I convert JPG back to PNG to restore quality?
No. The detail JPG discarded was discarded when it was saved. Converting to PNG gives you a larger file with the same information - it is useful only for adding transparency or for lossless repeated editing from that point on.
What should I use for a website?
WebP or AVIF, with JPG as a fallback. Both are smaller than JPG at the same visible quality and support transparency, which PNG does but at a much larger size for photographs.