WebP vs JPEG vs PNG: When to Use Each Format

Picking the wrong image format is one of those small decisions that quietly costs you. Too heavy, too blurry, or the background goes white when it should be transparent — then you’re hunting for the problem after the fact. Here’s a plain breakdown of the three formats you’ll encounter most, and when each one actually makes sense.

JPEG: the photo format

JPEG uses lossy compression — it discards some image data to keep file sizes manageable. For photographs with millions of subtle colour gradations, this is nearly invisible at quality settings above 80%. A typical full-resolution photo saved as JPEG at 85% quality is often 5–10× smaller than the same image as PNG.

Use JPEG for photos, product images, and anything with gradients or complex colour. Avoid it for logos, screenshots, and illustrations with flat colour or text. Compression artefacts turn crisp edges into muddy halos, and once you see it you can’t unsee it.

PNG: lossless and transparent

PNG compresses without throwing away any data, so you get a pixel-perfect copy of the original. It also supports transparency — something JPEG simply can’t do.

The tradeoff is file size. PNG files are significantly larger than JPEG for photographic content, which is why it’s the wrong choice for a hero image but the right choice for a logo with a transparent background.

Use PNG for logos, icons, UI screenshots, and illustrations with text. Don’t use it for photos unless you have a specific reason to need lossless quality.

WebP: the modern web format

WebP is Google’s open format built to replace both JPEG and PNG on the web. It handles lossy compression (like JPEG), lossless compression (like PNG), and transparency — in a single format.

The size advantage is real: WebP images are typically 25–35% smaller than JPEG at the same visual quality. Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Safari 14+ all support it, so browser compatibility stopped being an excuse a while back.

Use WebP for any image served on a website where you control the build. It’s the sensible default for web performance. Skip it for email attachments and documents — older mail clients and office apps often can’t open it, and your recipients won’t know why the image is broken.

Converting between formats

The Image Converter handles JPEG, PNG, and WebP conversion entirely in your browser. Nothing gets uploaded anywhere.

1. Drop your image onto the converter.
2. Choose the target format.
3. For JPEG and WebP, drag the Quality slider to find the right size-to-fidelity balance.
4. Click Convert & Download.

The side-by-side preview shows both the original and the converted file with their sizes. You can see exactly what you’re trading away before you save.

Quality settings that actually work

For JPEG exports, 80–90% covers most situations. Drop below 70% and artefacts start showing up in detailed areas — hair, fabric, foliage. For WebP, you can often go down to 75–80% and still match the visual quality of a JPEG at 85%. The format is more efficient.

PNG has no quality slider. It’s always lossless, so what you see is what you get.

Try the Image Converter — it’s free, runs offline, and your files stay on your device.