PNG vs JPG
The two most common image formats work in very different ways. Here’s which one to pick, and why.
| Feature | PNG | JPG |
|---|---|---|
| Compression | Lossless – every pixel kept | Lossy – some detail discarded |
| Best for | Screenshots, logos, graphics, text | Photos and realistic images |
| Transparency | Yes, full alpha channel | No |
| Typical photo size | 5–15 MB | 1–4 MB |
| Quality after re-saving | Never changes | Drops a little each time |
| Camera metadata (EXIF) | Rarely | Usually included |
| Support | Everywhere | Everywhere |
How PNG and JPG store images
PNG uses lossless compression. It finds patterns in the pixels, such as long runs of the same colour, and stores them more efficiently, but when you open the file you get back exactly the pixels that went in. That makes PNG ideal for images with sharp edges, flat colours and text, where any change to the pixels would be visible.
JPG uses lossy compression designed around human vision. It splits the image into small blocks, keeps the brightness detail our eyes are sensitive to, and throws away fine colour detail and subtle texture we rarely notice. You choose a quality level; at 80 to 90 percent most people can't tell a JPG from the original photo, yet the file is five to ten times smaller.
File size
For photos, JPG wins by a wide margin. A 12-megapixel phone photo is typically 2 to 4 MB as a JPG, and 10 to 20 MB as a PNG. Photos are full of noise and fine texture, which lossless compression can't squeeze much, so PNG ends up storing nearly every pixel.
For screenshots, diagrams and simple graphics, the opposite is often true. Large areas of flat colour compress extremely well in PNG, and the file can be smaller than a JPG of the same image, which would also show blocky artefacts around the text.
Quality and artefacts
JPG compression produces artefacts when pushed too far, or when the image has hard edges. You'll see smudgy halos around text, blocky patches in smooth gradients, and colour bleeding along sharp lines. Every time a JPG is edited and saved again, a little more detail is lost, so keep an original if you plan to edit repeatedly.
PNG never introduces artefacts, so a screenshot of a document stays perfectly crisp. The only way to make a PNG smaller with a visible change is to reduce its number of colours, which works well for graphics and badly for photos.
Transparency
PNG supports an alpha channel, so each pixel can be fully transparent, fully solid or anywhere in between. That's why logos, icons and product cut-outs are PNGs; they sit cleanly on any background.
JPG has no transparency at all. If you save a transparent image as JPG, the transparent areas are filled with a solid colour, usually white or black. If you need transparency and small files, consider WebP, which supports both.
Which one should you use?
Choose JPG for photos you share, email, upload or print, and for any large realistic image on a website. Choose PNG for screenshots, user interface images, charts, logos, illustrations with flat colours, and anything that needs transparency or will be edited again.
If an image is in the wrong format, converting is quick. Going from PNG to JPG makes photos much smaller; going from JPG to PNG won't restore lost detail, but it stops further loss and lets you add transparency.
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Questions
Is PNG higher quality than JPG?
PNG is lossless, so it never loses detail. For photos, a high-quality JPG looks the same to the eye at a fraction of the size, so PNG isn't better in practice there.
Does converting JPG to PNG improve quality?
No. Detail lost in the JPG can't be recovered. Converting only prevents further loss when you edit and save again.
Which is better for a website?
JPG or WebP for photos, PNG or SVG for logos and graphics. Modern sites often serve WebP or AVIF, which are smaller than both.
Why is my screenshot blurry after saving as JPG?
JPG compression smudges sharp edges and text. Save screenshots as PNG to keep them crisp.