WebP vs JPG vs PNG: which image format should you use?
Picking the right image format is the single biggest lever for a fast, sharp-looking website. JPG, PNG, WebP and AVIF each have a job they do best. This guide explains the differences in plain language so you can choose with confidence.
JPG, PNG, WebP, AVIF — what each is for
JPG is the old reliable for photographs: small files, no transparency, slight quality loss you usually can't see. PNG keeps every pixel exact and supports transparency, which makes it right for logos, icons and screenshots with sharp edges — but photos saved as PNG are huge. WebP and AVIF are modern formats that do both jobs at a smaller size: WebP typically saves 25–35% over JPG, and AVIF can be roughly half the size of JPG at the same quality.
When to convert to WebP (and when not to)
Convert photos and most web graphics to WebP when you want smaller files with no visible quality loss — it is supported by every modern browser. Keep PNG only when you truly need pixel-perfect edges or transparency that WebP can't match, or when a specific service requires PNG/JPG. AVIF squeezes even smaller but encodes slowly and isn't supported everywhere, so WebP is the safe default today.
How to convert without losing quality
Start by resizing: a 4,000-pixel phone photo is far larger than any web page needs, so scaling it to 1,600–2,000 pixels wide cuts the size before conversion even begins. Then choose a quality around 75–85%, which looks identical to the eye while shrinking the file dramatically. If you need a hard limit — say under 100 KB — use a target-size mode that adjusts quality automatically until the file fits.
Try it: convert between JPG, PNG, WebP and AVIF privately in your browser with ImageBloom →