Comparison1 min readUpdated June 25, 2026
PNG vs JPG: which should you use?
Short answer
Use PNG for screenshots, logos, line art, and anything that needs transparency or crisp edges. Use JPG for photographs, where its lossy compression produces much smaller files with no visible difference.
The core difference
PNG uses lossless compression: every pixel is preserved exactly, and it supports an alpha channel for transparency. JPG (also written JPEG) uses lossy compression: it discards detail to reach much smaller files, and it has no transparency.
When to use PNG
- Screenshots and UI captures, where text must stay sharp
- Logos, icons, and line art with flat colors
- Any image that needs a transparent background
- Graphics you will edit and re-save repeatedly
When to use JPG
- Photographs and images with smooth color gradients
- Large pictures where small file size matters more than perfect detail
- Email attachments and web galleries
Generational lossEvery time you re-save a JPG, it is compressed again and loses a little more detail. Keep a lossless master (PNG or the original) if you plan to edit repeatedly.
A common trap: photos as PNG
Saving a photograph as PNG produces a large file with no quality benefit, because lossless compression cannot exploit the smooth variation in photos the way JPG does. If a photo looks fine but the file is several megabytes, converting it to JPG or WebP usually shrinks it dramatically.
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