What is JPG / JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group)?
JPG is a lossy raster format that compresses photographic images by discarding detail the human eye is unlikely to notice. Quality is set on a 0–100 scale; most web images use 60–85.
Best for: Photographs and complex images with smooth colour gradients, where small file size matters more than pixel-perfect accuracy. Trade-offs: No transparency, visible artefacts at low quality, and every re-save loses a little more detail (generation loss).
What is WebP?
WebP is a modern image format from Google that offers both lossy and lossless modes plus alpha transparency and animation. At matched quality it is typically 25–35% smaller than JPG or PNG.
Best for: Web images where page-load speed and Core Web Vitals matter; it replaces both JPG and PNG in one format. Trade-offs: Older software and some social platforms still do not accept WebP, so a JPG or PNG copy is sometimes needed.
| Property | JPG | WEBP |
|---|
| Compression | Lossy | Lossy |
| Transparency | No | Yes |
| Typical use | Photographs and complex images with smooth colour gradients | Web images where page-load speed and Core Web Vitals matter; it replaces both JPG and PNG in one format. |