The short answer
Convert PNG to JPG when the image is a photo or when you need a small file that every program accepts. Keep PNG for logos, icons, screenshots with text and anything transparent. A photo as JPG is many times smaller than as PNG. A screenshot as JPG is often blurrier and sometimes not smaller at all.
| PNG | JPG (JPEG) | |
|---|---|---|
| Compression | Lossless: every pixel is kept | Lossy: detail is thrown away to save space |
| Photo file size | Large | Small, often 5 to 10 times smaller |
| Graphic and text file size | Small and sharp | Medium, with soft edges |
| Transparency | Yes, with partly transparent pixels | No, filled with a color |
| Repeated saving | No loss | Loses a little each time |
| Best for | Logos, screenshots, graphics, editing | Photos, email, forms, social media |
Convert to JPG when
- The image is a photo or a scan, and the PNG is several megabytes.
- A form, portal or email gives a size limit, such as 100 KB or 2 MB.
- A website or app only accepts JPG.
- The image will be printed, and the printer asks for JPG.
Keep PNG when
- The image has a transparent background that you need.
- It is a screenshot, a chart, a diagram or contains small text.
- It is a logo or an icon with flat colors.
- You will edit it again. Work in PNG and make the JPG at the end.
The screenshot trap
A screenshot of a web page or an app has large flat areas and sharp text. PNG compresses that very well, often to a few hundred KB. JPG adds visible halos around letters, and at high quality the file can even be larger. Convert a screenshot to JPG only if a service requires it, and use quality 90 or higher.
What happens to transparency
JPG cannot be see-through. When you convert, transparent areas must be filled with a color. Without a fill many tools produce a black background. Choose white for documents and print, or the color of the page where the image will be used. Transparent PNG to JPG lets you choose the color.
File size you can expect
- A phone photo or a photo-based image saved as PNG is often 8 to 25 MB. As JPG at quality 85 to 90 it is usually 1 to 4 MB.
- A screenshot is usually 100 to 800 KB as PNG, and about the same as JPG, with lower sharpness.
- A flat logo is a few KB as PNG, and is likely to get bigger and fuzzy as JPG.
For websites
Photos should not be PNG on a website, because large files slow pages down and hurt search rankings. Use JPG, or better WebP, which is 25 to 35 percent smaller at similar quality and also supports transparency. PNG remains fine for small icons, and SVG is best for logos drawn as vectors. See the JPG vs WebP guide.
For email, forms and social media
Use JPG at quality 80 to 85 and a maximum size of 1600 to 2000 pixels. Many social networks re-save your upload as JPG anyway, so uploading a huge PNG only makes the upload slower. For forms with a size limit, use convert PNG to JPG with a target size.
Which JPG quality to use
- 95 for print and archives.
- 90 for general use.
- 80 to 85 for websites and email.
- 75 or less only for small previews, because artifacts start to show.
Converting between the two
Use PNG to JPG for single files and bulk PNG to JPG for folders. Going back with JPG to PNG does not restore the detail that was removed, so keep the original PNG if you may need it. The same comparison from the JPG side is in the JPG vs PNG guide.
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