What about GIF and AVIF?

GIF is mostly used today for short animations and has a very limited colour palette, so it is a poor fit for photos. AVIF is a newer format that can be even smaller than WEBP, but support in older software is still limited.

Does converting a WEBP to JPG reduce quality?

Slightly, because JPG compresses again. At a high quality setting the difference is not visible in normal use. Keep the WEBP if you might need it later.

Which format is best for printing?

For photos, a high quality JPG works well with almost every print service. For graphics with text or logos, PNG keeps edges sharp. Ask the print shop if they have a preference.

JPG vs PNG vs WEBP: Which Image Format to Use

Most people pick an image format by accident: whatever the phone, the screenshot tool or the export dialog offered. That usually works until a file is far too big, a logo shows up with a white box around it, or an upload form rejects the picture. Knowing what each format is good at fixes all three.

This is a practical comparison of the three formats you meet most often, JPG, PNG and WEBP, with clear advice on when to use which.

JPG: the default for photos

JPG, also written JPEG, has been around since the early 1990s and opens on practically every device and program in existence. It uses lossy compression: when you save, it throws away detail the eye is unlikely to notice. That is why a phone photo can be a few megabytes instead of dozens.

JPG is the right choice for:

Photos of people, places and things.
Images with soft gradients and lots of colour.
Anything you need to email, print or upload where compatibility matters most.

It is a poor choice for screenshots, text, line drawings and logos. Sharp edges get fuzzy halos around them, known as compression artefacts. JPG also has no transparency, so a cut-out logo always ends up on a solid background.

One more thing to know: every time you edit and re-save a JPG, it loses a little more detail. Keep the original and export a fresh copy instead of saving over the same file again and again.

PNG: sharp edges and transparency

PNG uses lossless compression. What you save is exactly what you get back, pixel for pixel. It also supports transparency, including soft semi-transparent edges.

PNG is the right choice for:

Screenshots, especially ones with text.
Logos, icons and graphics with flat colours.
Anything that needs a transparent background.
Images you are still editing and will save several times.

The cost is size. A photo saved as PNG is often several times larger than the same photo as JPG, with no visible gain. If someone sends you holiday pictures as PNG, or a phone saves photos that way, converting them with PNG to JPG can save a lot of space. Just remember that any transparent areas will be filled with a solid colour.

WEBP: smaller files for the web

WEBP was released by Google in 2010, designed to make images on websites lighter. It can work in both lossy and lossless modes, and it supports transparency in both. In practice, a WEBP file is usually smaller than a JPG or PNG of similar quality.

All current major browsers display WEBP, which is why so many websites now serve their images in it. Support outside the browser is still patchier. Some older image editors, office programs and upload forms will not accept it, which is also why you sometimes save a picture from a website and find an unfamiliar .webp file in your downloads.

WEBP is the right choice for:

Images on your own website or blog, where page speed matters.
Online shops with many product photos.
Cases where you control where the file will be shown.

For sending files to other people, JPG or PNG are still safer bets. You know they will open.

If you downloaded a WEBP and need it somewhere that refuses it, convert it to JPG for photos or PNG for graphics. The picture stays the same, only the container changes.

Choosing quickly

When I am unsure, I ask myself two questions. Is it a photo? Does it need transparency or sharp text?

A photo going anywhere: JPG.
A photo going on your website: WEBP.
A screenshot, logo or anything with text: PNG.
A logo on your website: WEBP with transparency, or PNG.
Not sure where it will end up: JPG for photos, PNG for graphics.

Converting and shrinking images

Once you know the right format, switching is simple. Convert Image on DocJuno turns any common image format into JPG, PNG or WEBP, and handles several files at once.

For a website, JPG to WEBP converts photos in one step and lets you set the quality. A quality setting around the middle of the range usually looks the same as the original on screen while being much lighter. Check a couple of images at full size before converting a whole batch.

If the format is already right and the file is just too big, use Compress Image instead. It keeps the format and reduces the size, which is often enough for an upload form with a size limit.

Like the rest of DocJuno, these tools run in your browser. The images are processed on your device and are not uploaded, which is handy for anything personal.

Keep the originals until you have checked the results. If a transparent background turned white where you did not want it to, you can simply run the conversion again with a different format.

Common mistakes to avoid

Saving photos as PNG "for quality". You get huge files and no visible benefit.
Saving screenshots as JPG. Text turns blurry around the edges.
Converting a JPG to PNG to "fix" quality. Detail already lost does not come back.
Putting WEBP files in documents meant for other people. Their software may not open them.
Re-saving the same JPG many times. Work from the original instead.

Pick the format for where the image is going, not where it came from, and most image problems simply do not happen.