"JPG for photos, PNG for logos" is mostly right, but if you follow it without knowing why, you lose out on the exceptions. We saved the same images in both formats and compared the file sizes.
The key differences
| PNG | JPG | |
|---|---|---|
| Compression | Lossless (pixels stay exactly the same when saved) | Lossy (drops less important information) |
| Transparent background | Yes | No |
| Re-saving | Same no matter how many times | Loses a little quality each time |
| Best for | Flat colors, text, lines, logos, screenshots | Photos where colors change continuously |
Measured file sizes
We saved a photo (1280×854) in both formats.
| Format | File size |
|---|---|
| PNG | 2.2MB |
| JPG quality 95 | 556KB |
| JPG quality 90 | 417KB |
| JPG quality 80 | 298KB |
For the photo, PNG was more than five times the size of JPG at quality 90. A photo whose colors flow smoothly has little to remove when it is saved losslessly.
We also measured a screenshot-like image: a 1280×720 image we made to look like a settings screen, with flat-color backgrounds and text.
| Format | File size |
|---|---|
| PNG | 108KB |
| JPG quality 95 | 128KB |
| JPG quality 90 | 105KB |
| JPG quality 80 | 83KB |
| WebP quality 90 | 44KB |
This time PNG was smaller than JPG at quality 95, and about the same as quality 90. PNG compresses large areas of the same color well. JPG also leaves blocky blur around text, so for an image with text, PNG is the sharper choice when the sizes are similar. These numbers come from a single image each and vary with content.
How to choose
- Photos and images with many gradients → JPG (start at quality 80-90). Consider WebP too if size matters.
- Logos, icons, UI, screenshots and text-heavy images → PNG. If you need a transparent background, there is no real choice.
- Originals you'll edit several times → Keep them as PNG and export only the final result as JPG. Re-saving JPG over and over piles up degradation.
- Email or upload size limits → Converting photos to JPG shrinks them a lot. When converting a PNG that has transparency, pick a background color.
Try it now
The result screen shows the size before and after conversion, so you can check which is smaller for your own image.
Convert PNG to JPG Convert JPG to PNG