JPG, PNG or WebP: which format should you use?

In one line: photos go in JPG or WebP; graphics and transparency go in PNG or WebP. Before switching to WebP, check that the place you upload to accepts it.

JPG (also written JPEG) stores photos compactly by discarding fine detail the eye rarely notices. Almost every website, app, email service and marketplace accepts it, which makes it the safest choice when you are not sure.

Its weak points are sharp edges and flat colours. Text, line art and screenshots pick up fuzzy halos, and JPG has no transparency. Every time a JPG is edited and saved again it loses a little more, so keep the original and export from it.

To make a JPG smaller without changing its format, use the image compressor; to try WebP, use JPG to WebP.

PNG is lossless: every pixel is kept exactly as it was. That makes it right for logos, icons, interface screenshots and anything with text, and it supports full transparency, including soft edges and shadows.

The price is size. A photo saved as PNG is usually several times larger than a good JPG. In the HTTP Archive's 2024 Web Almanac, the median PNG on the web used 3.8 bits per pixel, against 2.0 for JPG and 1.3 for WebP.

If a PNG holds a photo, convert it. If it holds a graphic, compress it as a PNG, or try PNG to WebP, which keeps transparency.

Google designed WebP for the web, and it works both ways: lossy like JPG or lossless like PNG, with transparency in both. Google reports that lossless WebP files are 26% smaller than PNGs, and that lossy WebP files are 25–34% smaller than comparable JPGs.

Every current major browser displays WebP: about 97% of browsers in use, including Safari since version 14. The catch is outside the browser. Some platforms still do not accept WebP uploads: Amazon, Etsy and Mailchimp, for example, list JPG and PNG but not WebP.

Conversion is not a guaranteed win either. A simple logo or a screenshot with few colours can be smaller as a PNG. Convert, compare the two files, and keep the smaller one.

1. 01Does the image need transparency? Use PNG, or WebP where it is accepted.
2. 02Is it a photo or a realistic picture? Use JPG, or WebP on your own website.
3. 03Is it a screenshot, chart, logo or text? Use PNG, then try WebP and compare the files.
4. 04Where will it be uploaded? Make sure the platform accepts the format; if not, stay with JPG or PNG.
5. 05Compress the final file, whatever its format.

For the sizes and limits of specific platforms, see image size requirements for email and online stores.

AVIF is a newer format that can be smaller still, but it is slower to create and fewer tools and platforms accept it. On the web it remains rare: in the 2025 Web Almanac, AVIF accounted for 0.7% of LCP images, against 11% for WebP, 26% for PNG and 57% for JPG. For most sites today, JPG, PNG and WebP cover everything.

• Saving photos as PNG for quality. PNG keeps the detail that is already there but cannot add any, and the file grows several times over.
• Converting a JPG to PNG to fix blurry edges. The damage is already in the JPG; go back to the original instead.
• Switching everything to WebP without checking. Your website may welcome it while your shop platform or email tool rejects it.
• Stopping once the format is chosen. The format sets the starting point; compressing the final file does the rest.

Next: how to compress images for a website, step by step.