Should I save photos as PNG or JPG?

JPG. PNG photos are often 5–10× larger with no visible benefit.

Why does my screenshot look blurry as a JPG?

JPG compression smooths sharp edges and text. Save screenshots as PNG (or WebP) to keep them crisp.

Does converting JPG to PNG improve quality?

No. It keeps the image as it is, including any JPG artifacts, but it won't lose more quality when edited later.

Which is better for websites?

JPG for photos and PNG for graphics, or WebP/AVIF for both: they're smaller than either and supported by all modern browsers.

PNG vs JPG: Which Should You Use?

PNG and JPG are the two most common image formats on the web. They look similar at a glance but are built for different jobs: JPG for photos, PNG for graphics, screenshots and anything transparent.

PNG vs JPG

Use JPG for photos: files are about 10× smaller with no visible difference. Use PNG for logos, screenshots, text and anything that needs a transparent background.

Convert PNG to JPG Convert JPG to PNG

PNG vs JPG at a glance

Property	PNG	JPG
Compression	Lossless (exact pixels, larger files)	Lossy (small files, some detail discarded)
Transparency	Yes	No
Animation	No	No
Opens in	All browsers and devices	All browsers and devices
Best for	Logos, screenshots, graphics, images with text or transparency	Photos, sharing, email, social media
Quality after re-saving	Identical every time	Degrades a little each time

Use PNG for

Logos, icons and illustrations
Screenshots and images with text
Images that need transparency
Master copies you'll edit again

Use JPG for

Photos for the web, email and social media
Uploads with file size limits
Printing photos
Anywhere small files matter more than pixel-perfect detail

File size test

How big are the files?

We saved the same two images in both formats with our converter at default settings (quality 85 for lossy formats).

Test image	PNG	JPG	Difference
1600 × 1200 photo	1.81 MB	175 KB	JPG 90% smaller
1200 × 800 screenshot with text	65 KB	38 KB	JPG 41% smaller

Key differences

Compression

JPG throws away detail the eye barely notices to make files small (lossy). PNG keeps every pixel exactly (lossless), so files are larger, especially for photos.

Transparency

PNG supports transparent and semi-transparent pixels. JPG doesn't: transparent areas become a solid color.

Sharp edges and text

JPG compression creates soft, blocky artifacts around sharp edges and text. PNG keeps them crisp.

File size

In our test the same photo was 175 KB as JPG and 1.8 MB as PNG. For a screenshot the JPG was also smaller, but its text was visibly softer.

PNG

What is a PNG file?

Portable Network Graphics (PNG) is a raster graphics file format that supports lossless data compression, created as a patent-free replacement for the Graphics Interchange Format (GIF). Standardized as ISO/IEC 15948:2004, PNG utilizes the DEFLATE compression algorithm (a combination of LZ77 and Huffman coding) and supports palette-based images, grayscale, and full-color non-palette-based RGB/RGBA images. A defining feature is its alpha channel support, allowing for variable transparency levels, unlike the binary transparency of GIF. It does not support animation but offers gamma correction and interlacing via the Adam7 algorithm.

How to open a PNG file

PNG files possess near-universal compatibility across all major operating systems (Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS) and web browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Safari) without requiring additional software. Default image viewers such as Microsoft Photos, Apple Preview, and virtually all graphics editing software including GIMP, Adobe Photoshop, and Paint.NET natively handle the format.

Full Name: Portable Network Graphics
Developed By: PNG Development Group
Initial Release: 1996
MIME Type: image/png

JPG

What is a JPG file?

JPG is functionally identical to the JPEG format, differing only in the file extension length, a legacy constraint from the MS-DOS 8.3 filename limit (which allowed only three characters for extensions). It implements the same ISO/IEC 10918 standard, using lossy compression based on Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT) and Huffman coding to store photorealistic images. The file structure contains markers such as Start of Image (SOI) and End of Image (EOI) and supports color spaces like sRGB and CMYK, making it interchangeable with .jpeg files in all software contexts.

How to open a JPG file

As one of the most ubiquitous file types in computing, JPG files open natively on Windows, macOS, and Linux without external software. Default viewers like Microsoft Photos, Apple Preview, and Linux image viewers handle the format automatically. For editing or conversion, industry-standard tools including Adobe Photoshop, Paint.NET, and XnView provide extensive support. Web browsers universally render JPGs without plugins.

Full Name: Joint Photographic Experts Group
Developed By: Joint Photographic Experts Group
Initial Release: 1992
MIME Type: image/jpeg