Image Formats Explained: JPG, PNG, WebP, AVIF & HEIC

PNG, JPG, WebP, AVIF, HEIC — five formats cover almost every image you'll create or receive. Here's a plain-English reference to what each one is, its strengths and weaknesses, and when to reach for it.

JPG / JPEG — the photographic standard

What it is: a lossy format built for photographs, around since 1992 and supported literally everywhere.
Strengths: excellent for photos, tiny files, universal compatibility.
Weaknesses: no transparency; damages sharp edges and text; every save loses a little more.
Use for: photographs, camera images, anything shared widely.

PNG — lossless and transparent

What it is: a lossless format that stores every pixel exactly and supports full transparency.
Strengths: perfect for graphics, logos, screenshots, text; keeps transparency.
Weaknesses: huge for photographs (often 5–10× a JPG).
Use for: anything with sharp edges, flat color or transparency. (Compressing PNG.)

WebP — the modern all-rounder

What it is: Google's format doing both lossy and lossless, with transparency and animation. Universal browser support since 2020.
Strengths: ~25–30% smaller than JPG/PNG at equal quality; transparency; fast.
Weaknesses: not ideal for a few legacy email clients/apps.
Use for: the web — almost anything.

AVIF — the compression champion

What it is: a newer format based on the AV1 video codec.
Strengths: smallest files (20–30% under WebP), great at low bitrates, HDR and wide gamut.
Weaknesses: slower to encode; unsupported in very old browsers.
Use for: web images where you want maximum savings, with a fallback. (WebP vs AVIF.)

HEIC / HEIF — the iPhone format

What it is: Apple's default photo format since 2017, using HEVC compression.
Strengths: ~50% smaller than JPG at similar quality; great for phone storage.
Weaknesses: poor compatibility — Windows, many websites and non-Apple apps can't open it directly, so uploads often fail.
Use for: on-device iPhone storage. Convert to JPG or WebP before sharing or uploading. (Why HEIC uploads fail.)

At a glance

Convert between them free

The FreeCompressor image tool converts to PNG, JPG and WebP in your browser. For head-to-head comparisons, see JPG vs PNG vs WebP vs AVIF.