PNG and JPG solve different problems. PNG compresses losslessly, so every pixel comes back exactly as saved, and it supports transparency. JPG throws away detail the eye is unlikely to notice, which makes photos several times smaller. Converting PNG to JPG makes sense for photographs and scans. For screenshots, logos and diagrams it is often the wrong move, and we explain why below.
When PNG to JPG is worth it
- A portal accepts only JPG. Many application forms, photo-print services and older content systems still list JPG as the only allowed format.
- The PNG is a photo. Phone screenshots of photos, exports from editors or images saved by a browser are often PNG. As a photo PNG, a single picture can easily take 10 MB or more; the same image as JPG at quality 90 is typically a fraction of that.
- E-mail and messaging limits. Smaller attachments fit under size limits and load faster on mobile data.
- Web pages. Large photographic PNGs slow pages down. JPG (or WebP) is the usual choice for photos on the web.
What happens during the conversion
Our converter uses these settings:
- Transparency becomes white. JPG has no alpha channel. We place the image on a white background before saving, so a transparent logo gets a white rectangle around it, never a black one. Semi-transparent edges, such as soft shadows or anti-aliased text, are blended with white.
- Quality 90. That is high enough that artefacts are hard to see in photos. At this quality we keep full colour resolution (no chroma subsampling), which matters for coloured text and sharp red or blue edges.
- Bit depth. PNG can store 16 bits per channel, baseline JPG stores 8. Smooth gradients from a 16-bit PNG are reduced to 8 bits, which is what every screen displays anyway.
- Animation. An animated PNG (APNG) keeps only its first frame.
- Metadata. We do not deliberately strip metadata, and an embedded colour profile normally travels along. If the image was rotated using an orientation tag, the pixels are turned so the JPG displays upright.
Problems people run into
PNG to JPG: transparent background turned black or white
Black backgrounds come from tools that drop the alpha channel without filling it. With us it is always white. If you need a different colour, or a truly transparent background, stay with PNG, or use WebP, which supports both lossy compression and transparency.
Text and lines look blurry or have halos after converting
JPG compresses in 8 × 8 pixel blocks and handles soft photographic areas well, sharp edges poorly. Screenshots, charts, pixel art and logos get faint ringing around letters. For such images PNG is usually also smaller than a high-quality JPG, so converting gains you nothing.
The JPG is bigger than the PNG
That happens with simple graphics: a few flat colours compress extremely well in PNG. If the JPG comes out larger, keep the PNG.
Converting back and forth
Every JPG save loses a little more. Keep the original PNG as your master copy and convert from it whenever you need a new JPG. Converting the JPG back to PNG will not bring the lost detail back; see JPG to PNG.
PNG and JPG compared
| PNG | JPG | |
|---|---|---|
| Compression | lossless (Deflate) | lossy (DCT) |
| Transparency | yes, full alpha channel | no |
| Bit depth | 1 to 16 bits per channel | 8 bits per channel (baseline) |
| Animation | APNG | no |
| Typical use | screenshots, logos, diagrams, graphics with text | photographs, scans of photos |
| Standard | W3C Recommendation 1996, ISO/IEC 15948:2004, third edition 2025 | ISO/IEC 10918-1 (1992), file format JFIF ISO/IEC 10918-5 |
PNG was created in the mid-1990s as a patent-free replacement for GIF. The third edition of the PNG specification, a W3C Recommendation from June 2025, formally added animated PNG and HDR support. Detailed format descriptions: PNG and JFIF at the Library of Congress; our pages on PNG and JPG.
Other ways to convert PNG to JPG
For a single file the tools you already have are fine. In Windows, open the PNG in Paint and use Save as > JPEG picture. On a Mac, open it in Preview, choose File > Export, pick JPEG and set the quality slider (Apple's instructions).
Our converter saves time with batches: up to 10 images at once, results as one ZIP or a link sent by e-mail, from any browser including phones and Linux. Files up to 100 MB are processed on our servers in the Czech Republic; uploads are deleted right after conversion and results after 14 days. Have iPhone photos instead? Use HEIC to JPG.