JPG and PNG are the two most used image formats on the web, and they're optimised for completely different content. Choosing the wrong one means either bloated file sizes or degraded quality.
JPG uses lossy compression designed for photographs. It excels at smooth gradients, natural textures, and complex colour — the kind of detail found in photos. A typical photo saved as JPG at quality 85 will be 5-10x smaller than the same image as PNG, with no perceptible quality loss. The tradeoff: every time you edit and re-save a JPG, you lose a tiny bit more detail.
PNG uses lossless compression designed for graphics. It's ideal for screenshots, logos, icons, diagrams, and anything with sharp edges, flat colours, or text. PNG also supports transparency (alpha channels), which JPG does not. A logo with a transparent background must be PNG (or SVG or WebP).
The rule is simple: if the image came from a camera, use JPG. If it came from a design tool or screen capture, use PNG. If you need transparency, use PNG. If you need the smallest possible file for a photo, use JPG.
For web use, WebP now offers the best of both worlds — lossy and lossless compression with transparency support — but JPG and PNG remain the safe defaults for maximum compatibility.
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