JPG vs PNG: which should you use?

The short version: photographs go to JPG, graphics and anything needing transparency go to PNG. The longer version explains why, and when the rule breaks.

Last reviewed 2026-01-15

How they compress

JPG is lossy. It transforms the image into frequency components and discards the ones the eye is least sensitive to. That is extremely effective on photographic content and visibly destructive on sharp edges and flat colour boundaries.

PNG is lossless. It compresses by finding repetition, which works brilliantly on flat colour and poorly on photographic noise. Decoding a PNG gives you back exactly the pixels that went in.

Transparency

PNG has a full alpha channel. JPG has none at all — every transparent pixel has to be flattened onto a background colour when you convert.

A quick decision table

Photograph for the web: JPG (or WebP). Logo or icon: PNG. UI screenshot with text: PNG, or WebP lossless. Chart or diagram: PNG. Photo that needs a transparent background: PNG or WebP.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Is PNG higher quality than JPG?: PNG is lossless, so it never introduces compression artefacts. Whether that is visible depends entirely on the image and the JPG quality setting used.
Which is better for printing?: Neither is ideal — print workflows usually want TIFF or a high-quality PDF. Between the two, PNG avoids compression artefacts.

Sources

MDN Web Docs — Image file type and format guide