PNG vs JPG — Complete Comparison for 2026

JPG for photos, always. A typical photograph saved as PNG is 5–15x larger than the equivalent JPG with no perceptible quality difference on screen. PNG's lossless compression is overkill for photographic content. Save PNG for graphics, logos, and images with text or flat colours.

PNG for logos. Logos typically have sharp edges, flat colours, and often need a transparent background — all things PNG handles perfectly. JPG blurs sharp edges and doesn't support transparency, which makes logos look blurry and adds a white background.

No. Converting JPG to PNG does not recover lost quality. The JPG compression has already permanently removed information — converting to PNG just preserves what's left without adding further loss. To get the best quality, always start from the original uncompressed source.

PNG is lossless (every pixel preserved exactly) and supports transparency. JPG is lossy (discards some detail) and does not support transparency. JPG files are typically 5–10x smaller for photographs. PNG files are larger but maintain perfect quality for graphics and screenshots.

You lose some quality whenever you save as JPG, because JPG uses lossy compression. At high quality settings (90%+), the difference is invisible on screen. At lower settings, you may see compression artifacts around sharp edges. If quality is critical, keep the PNG and only convert to JPG for web delivery.