JPG, PNG, WebP or SVG: Which Image Format Should You Choose?

Picking an image format is a trade-off between quality, size, transparency and compatibility. Once you know what each format is good at, the decision becomes quick.

JPG (JPEG)

• Best for: photographs and images with smooth colour gradients.
• How it works: lossy compression that discards fine detail.
• Strengths: small files, supported everywhere.
• Weaknesses: no transparency, blurs sharp text and thin lines, degrades each time you re-save.

PNG

• Best for: screenshots, diagrams, logos and anything with text or sharp edges.
• How it works: lossless compression, so every pixel is preserved.
• Strengths: supports transparency, crisp lines.
• Weaknesses: large files when used for photographs.

WebP

• Best for: almost everything on modern websites.
• How it works: supports both lossy and lossless modes plus transparency and animation.
• Strengths: typically smaller than JPEG or PNG at similar quality, and supported by all major current browsers.
• Weaknesses: some older desktop software and email clients may not open it, so keep a JPEG or PNG copy for sharing.

SVG

• Best for: logos, icons, simple illustrations and charts.
• How it works: it is not made of pixels. It describes shapes with mathematical instructions, written in XML.
• Strengths: infinitely scalable without blur, tiny for simple artwork, can be styled with CSS.
• Weaknesses: unsuitable for photographs; always sanitise SVG files from unknown sources because they can contain scripts.

Quick decision guide

1. Is it a photograph? Use WebP or JPG.
2. Is it a logo or icon? Use SVG, with PNG as a fallback.
3. Is it a screenshot or a chart? Use PNG or lossless WebP.
4. Does it need transparency? PNG, WebP or SVG.
5. Will it be emailed or opened in old software? JPG or PNG are safest.

Other formats to know

GIF supports simple animation but only 256 colours; short videos are usually a better choice. AVIF often achieves the smallest files but is slower to encode and has less editing support.

Practical tips

• Keep an original master file in a lossless format.
• Resize before you compress.
• Use descriptive file names such as red-running-shoes.webp, not IMG_4382.webp.
• Add alt text to every meaningful image.

Choose the format for the content, not the other way around.