PNG, JPG, WebP: which format to save in, and when
Photos as JPG, text and transparency as PNG, the web as WebP. Three lines of rules, plus the exceptions that keep you out of trouble.
Updated 2026-09-10
Image formats hold the same picture; they differ in how they store it. Three things separate them: whether saving throws information away (lossy), whether transparency can be stored, and how big the file is. Know those three and you can choose a format for any situation.
| Format | Lossy | Transparency | Good for | Avoid for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| JPG | Yes | No | Photographs | Text, flat shapes, repeated re-saves |
| PNG | No | Yes | Text, screenshots, logos, intermediate saves | Photos where size matters |
| WebP | Optional | Yes | Anything going on the web | Sending to older apps and devices |
| GIF | 256 colours | Yes | Short animations | Any still image |
| AVIF | Optional | Yes | Modern web pages | Uploads and sharing (support is uneven) |
JPG: built for photographs
JPG shrinks files by discarding information the eye is bad at noticing. On photographs, where colours flow smoothly, this works well: saved at 90 percent quality it is a fifth to a tenth of PNG's size at nearly the same quality. A 1080x1080 photo is 200 to 400KB as JPG at 90 percent and 1.5 to 3MB as PNG.
Its weakness is sharp edges. Around text, lines, and the borders of flat colour, the discarded information shows up as smudging. And it discards again on every save, even at 100 percent. Edit, save, reopen, repeat, and the artefacts pile up. It cannot hold transparency; transparent areas become white.
PNG: throws nothing away
PNG discards nothing. Open and save it a hundred times and it matches the first file. It suits text, screenshots, logos, and charts — anything with crisp edges — and those images use few colours, so PNG keeps them small. It holds transparency too. A logo or sticker with no background must be PNG.
Its weakness is photographs. A photo with millions of colours becomes very large as PNG. Even so, there are times PNG is right for a photo: saving between edits, handing a file to a print shop or another tool, and uploading somewhere that will compress it anyway. A clean starting point compressed once beats a JPG compressed twice.
WebP: built for the web
WebP combines JPG's compression with PNG's transparency in one format. At matching quality it is 25 to 35 percent smaller than JPG, it offers a lossless mode, and it supports transparency. Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Edge all open it, so for images placed on a web page, WebP is the best choice.
Its weakness is everywhere outside the web. Older image viewers, some messengers, and office software either cannot open WebP or display it oddly. For a file sent to a person or uploaded somewhere, JPG or PNG is the safe choice. If you do not know what the other end opens it with, skip WebP.
Choosing by situation
- Photos for social media: JPG at 90 percent. The app compresses again, so there is no reason to go higher.
- Text images for social media: PNG. It leaves only the app's compression pass.
- Screenshots, logos, transparent backgrounds: PNG. There is no other option.
- Images on your own website: WebP. Same quality at a third less weight, and the page loads faster.
- Files for a print shop: PNG or JPG at 100 percent. Nothing should compress them again.
- Saving between edits: PNG. Export JPG only at the end.
- Photos sent to a person by messenger or mail: JPG. It opens everywhere.
What the quality number means
The quality value in JPG and WebP sets how much to discard. 100 discards the least, and still discards a little. For photographs the balance point is between 85 and 92. Below that the loss becomes visible; above it the file grows with almost no visible gain. Going from 92 to 100 nearly doubles the size for a difference that is hard to see.