When PNG to JPG is the right move
PNG is lossless: it stores every pixel exactly. That's ideal for a logo or a screenshot of text, and wasteful for a photo, where a JPG at high quality looks the same and is typically several times smaller. Convert when:
- a photo was saved or exported as PNG and is far too big to upload or attach;
- a form, portal or print service accepts only JPG/JPEG;
- you have a screenshot of a photo or a scene (a game, a video frame) rather than of text.
When to keep the PNG
- Transparency. JPG has no transparent pixels; they become white. A logo or a cut-out product photo on a transparent background should stay PNG.
- Text and sharp lines. Screenshots of documents, code, charts and diagrams pick up faint smudges around letters as JPG, and the JPG may not even be smaller. If that's what you have, compare the sizes this page shows and keep whichever is better.
- Further editing. If you'll edit and re-save the image several times, keep a PNG master and convert at the end.
What happens to the pixels
The PNG is decoded in your browser — including 16-bit and palette PNGs — transparent areas are placed on white, and it's encoded as a JPG at the quality you set (90 to start). Text and EXIF chunks are not copied. Size and dimensions of both files are shown so you can see exactly what you gained.
Need it under a specific size, not just smaller? Compress to KB takes a PNG too and gives you a JPG under your limit. Going the other way: JPG to PNG.