PNG vs JPG: which format should you use?

The core difference

JPG uses lossy compression. It discards image data to shrink the file, which works well for photos because the human eye doesn't notice the missing information. PNG uses lossless compression. Every pixel is preserved exactly, which matters for graphics, text, and screenshots.

That single difference drives everything else: file sizes, quality trade-offs, and which format belongs in which situation.

When to use PNG

PNG handles four situations better than JPG:

• Transparency. PNG supports an alpha channel, so you can have images with transparent or semi-transparent backgrounds. JPG fills transparency with white. If you're working on logos, icons, or layered design assets, you need PNG.
• Text and sharp edges. JPG compression creates blocky artifacts (called "ringing") around high-contrast edges like text on a white background. PNG keeps them crisp.
• Screenshots. Screenshots have large areas of solid color and sharp UI elements. PNG compresses these efficiently; JPG makes them look muddy.
• Images you'll edit repeatedly. Each time you save a JPG, it re-compresses and loses more data. PNG is lossless, so saving it a hundred times produces the same result as saving it once.

When to use JPG

JPG wins for photographs. A high-quality photo saved as JPG at 80% quality is typically 5–10x smaller than the same image saved as PNG, with no visible difference to the eye.

Use JPG for: photos you're publishing on the web, hero images on websites, product photography, anything where file size matters and the image has gradients and color variation throughout (rather than flat blocks of color).

Don't use JPG for the original copy of any image you might need to edit. Keep a PNG or TIFF master, export JPGs for publishing.

File size comparison

What about PNG photos that are enormous?

This comes up often. Someone exports a photo as PNG because they want "better quality," ends up with a 15 MB file, and wonders why. For photos, lossless compression doesn't actually give you more quality than JPG at 85–90% quality. The human eye can't tell the difference. It just gives you a much larger file.

If you have a photo as PNG and need to reduce its size, convert it to JPG. You'll lose nothing visible and gain significant savings.

Converting between formats

Converting JPG to PNG doesn't recover lost quality. The original compression already happened. You get a larger lossless file that still has the original JPG artifacts. That said, there are valid reasons to do it: adding transparency, avoiding further quality loss on re-saves, or meeting a spec that requires PNG.

Going the other direction (PNG to JPG) is the more common operation and it's fine for photos. You'll save significant file size with no visible quality difference at quality settings above 80%.