JPG, PNG or WebP: Converting Images to the Right Format

Use JPG for photos that need to open everywhere, PNG for screenshots, logos and anything with a transparent background, and WebP when you want the smallest files for a website. To convert, open Docmint's Convert Image, drop in your images, pick JPG, PNG or WebP and click Convert. It handles a whole batch at once, in your browser.

What is the difference between JPG, PNG and WebP?

JPG (or JPEG) is a lossy format designed for photographs. It discards fine detail the eye is unlikely to miss, which keeps photos small. It has no transparency, and at lower quality settings it handles sharp edges, like text and line art, poorly.

PNG is lossless: every pixel is preserved exactly. That makes it ideal for screenshots, logos, diagrams and images containing text, and it supports transparency. The cost is size. A photograph saved as PNG is often several times larger than the same photo as JPG.

WebP is a newer format that can be lossy or lossless and supports transparency. For photos it typically produces smaller files than JPG at similar visual quality, which is why it is popular on websites.

Which image format is the most compatible?

JPG is the safe default. Every device, operating system, email client, photo kiosk and upload form accepts it, and PNG is nearly as universal. WebP is supported by all current major browsers and most modern image apps, but some older software, some office and print workflows, and many upload forms that ask for "JPG or PNG" still do not accept it.

A practical rule: if a person or a form will receive the file, send JPG for photos and PNG for graphics. If the file is going on your own website, WebP is usually the better choice.

How to convert images with Docmint

1. Open Convert Image and drop in any number of images. JPG, PNG, WebP, GIF, BMP, SVG and HEIC files can be used as input, where your browser can decode them.
2. Choose the output format: JPG, PNG or WebP.
3. Set the quality for JPG or WebP output. 90 or higher is near-lossless.
4. If you are converting transparent images to JPG, choose the background color that fills the transparent areas.
5. Click Convert and download. Multiple results come in a ZIP.

What happens to transparency when you convert?

Only PNG and WebP keep transparency. JPG has no transparent pixels, so converting a logo with a transparent background to JPG fills those areas with the background color you choose. White suits documents and most web pages; if the image will sit on a colored slide or page, pick that color instead so the edges blend in.

If a logo or icon needs to sit cleanly on backgrounds of different colors, keep it as PNG or WebP.

Will converting reduce quality or change the file size?

PNG output is lossless, so converting to PNG keeps every pixel of the image you started with. It cannot restore detail a JPG has already discarded, though, so converting a JPG to PNG usually makes the file bigger with no visible benefit.

JPG and WebP output are lossy at the quality you choose. At 90 and above the result is near-lossless. Converting a PNG photo to JPG or WebP is one of the easiest ways to shrink an image a lot, and if you need it smaller still, Compress Image can lower the quality further and cap the dimensions. You can pass the result straight from one tool to the next with "Continue with".

How do you convert iPhone HEIC photos and SVG files?

iPhones save photos as HEIC by default. Safari decodes HEIC natively, so in Safari on a Mac or iPhone you can convert HEIC to JPG directly. Other browsers may not be able to read HEIC; in that case, export the photo from your phone as JPG first, or set the iPhone camera format to Most Compatible so it saves JPG from then on.

SVG is a vector format with no fixed pixel size. When you convert an SVG, it is rasterized at the size you choose, so increase the scale for sharper output, especially for images that will be shown large or on high-density screens.

Other ways to convert images

On a Mac, Preview can export an open image as JPEG, PNG, HEIC and other formats, and on Windows, Paint can save as JPG or PNG. Both work well for a single file. A browser converter is quicker when you have a folder of images to change at once, or when you need WebP, which some built-in tools do not offer.