The Three Main Web Image Formats
Choosing the wrong image format is one of the most common website performance mistakes. A photograph saved as PNG instead of JPG can be 5–10x larger than necessary. A logo saved as JPG instead of PNG loses quality every time it's saved. Getting format selection right is a free, immediate performance win.
Here's what you need to know about JPG, PNG, and WEBP for web use.
JPG (JPEG): Best for Photographs
JPG uses lossy compression that's specifically optimized for photographic images with complex colour gradients. At 75–85% quality, JPG files are dramatically smaller than equivalent PNG files with virtually imperceptible quality loss.
Use JPG for: product photos, blog post images, social media photos, background images, any photograph taken by a camera or phone.
Avoid JPG for: logos, icons, text-heavy graphics, screenshots with sharp edges. JPG compression creates visible artefacts around sharp lines and text.
Typical size: A 1200×800 product photo is typically 80–200 KB as JPG at good quality.
PNG: Best for Graphics with Transparency
PNG uses lossless compression — every pixel is preserved exactly. It supports full transparency (alpha channel), making it the only viable choice for logos, icons, and graphics that need to be placed on different backgrounds.
Use PNG for: logos, icons, illustrations, screenshots with text, any graphic requiring a transparent background, images you'll edit multiple times.
Avoid PNG for: photographs. A PNG photograph is typically 3–5x larger than the same photo as JPG with no visible quality benefit.
WEBP: Best Overall for Modern Websites
WEBP is Google's modern image format designed specifically for the web. It supports both lossy and lossless compression, full transparency (like PNG), and delivers files 25–35% smaller than equivalent JPEG and 26% smaller than equivalent PNG.
Browser support is now excellent — Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari (since 2020), iOS (since 14), and Android all support WEBP. Only Internet Explorer (less than 1% of traffic) doesn't.
Use WEBP for: everything, if you can handle the IE fallback. It's the best choice for most web use cases.
Convert any image to WEBP with our free WEBP Converter.
Quick Decision Guide
| Image Type | Best Format | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Photograph | WEBP or JPG | Excellent compression for complex colours |
| Logo / Icon | WEBP or PNG | Supports transparency and sharp edges |
| Screenshot with text | PNG | Preserves crisp text; WEBP if size matters |
| Animated image | WEBP or GIF | WEBP animations are much smaller than GIF |
| Illustration | PNG or WEBP | Lossless quality for flat graphics |
How to Convert Between Formats
Use our free conversion tools — no software needed, no uploads, instant results: