JPG vs PNG vs WebP vs AVIF: which one to actually use
Four formats, four different trade-offs. A quick reference for picking the right one instead of defaulting to whatever your screenshot tool saved.
Most people pick an image format by accident — it's whatever their phone, screenshot tool, or design software defaulted to. That's fine most of the time, but the wrong format can mean a photo that looks noticeably worse than it needs to, or a web page that loads slower than it should.
JPG (JPEG)
Lossy compression, no transparency support, extremely wide compatibility. Best for photographs and complex images with lots of color gradients, where the compression artifacts are least noticeable. Not a good choice for screenshots, logos, or anything with sharp text or hard edges — JPG tends to introduce visible fuzziness around high-contrast boundaries.
PNG
Lossless compression, full transparency support. The right default for screenshots, logos, icons, and any image with text or sharp edges. The cost is file size — PNG files are often several times larger than a JPG or WebP of the same image, especially for photographic content, since lossless compression can only do so much with complex, high-detail images.
WebP
Developed by Google, WebP supports both lossy and lossless compression plus transparency, and generally produces smaller files than JPG or PNG at equivalent visual quality. Browser support is now effectively universal. The main reason to skip it is if you need a file format that non-technical recipients can reliably open outside a browser — some older image viewers and editors still don't handle it.
AVIF
The newest of the four, AVIF typically beats WebP on compression efficiency, especially at lower quality settings. Support is strong in modern browsers but weaker in older software and some email clients, so it's a better fit for web assets than for files you're sending directly to someone.
A quick way to decide
- Photo for the web, size matters → WebP or AVIF
- Photo you're sending directly to someone, need guaranteed compatibility → JPG
- Screenshot, logo, or anything with transparency or sharp text → PNG (or WebP if size matters and the viewer supports it)
- Archival or print-quality photo → keep the original, uncompressed format
Processa's image converter handles all four formats and runs entirely in your browser, so nothing gets uploaded just to change a file extension.
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