What is PNG (Portable Network Graphics)?
PNG is a lossless raster image format that supports up to 16.7 million colours plus a full 8-bit alpha channel for transparency. It uses DEFLATE compression, so re-saving a PNG never degrades quality.
Best for: Logos, icons, screenshots, line art, and any image that needs sharp edges or a transparent background. Trade-offs: Files are much larger than JPG or WebP for photographs, and PNG cannot store animation.
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).
| Property | PNG | JPG |
|---|
| Compression | Lossless | Lossy |
| Transparency | Yes | No |
| Typical use | Logos | Photographs and complex images with smooth colour gradients |