PNG or JPG: How to Choose
'Should this image be PNG or JPG?' The answer depends on what the image contains, not on quality preferences. Learn one simple decision rule and stop agonizing.
The core difference in one sentence
JPG is lossy, optimized for continuous-tone photos, and small; PNG is lossless, keeps every pixel exactly, supports transparency, and is relatively large. One optimizes for size, the other for fidelity.
When JPG is right
Photographs, chat images, web visuals, anything being uploaded to someone else's system. Small and universally accepted — when in doubt, JPG won't let you down.
When PNG is right
- Logos, icons and UI screenshots: flat colors plus sharp lines — lossless, and often smaller than JPG too.
- Images containing text: JPG leaves fuzzy halos around text edges; PNG keeps every pixel crisp.
- Transparent assets and working files that will be edited repeatedly.
Conversion tips
Both directions live on this site: HEIC-to-PNG and WebP-to-PNG cover the lossless and transparency cases; everything else belongs in the JPG tools. All conversions run locally, with quality under your control.