How to convert PNG to JPG
Great for photographs, bad for screenshots and logos — and transparency always needs a decision.
Updated September 1, 2026
PNG is lossless and JPEG is lossy, which makes the conversion sound like a straight downgrade. For photographs it is the opposite: JPEG was designed for continuous-tone images and produces a file five to ten times smaller with no visible difference.
For screenshots, logos, diagrams and anything with text or flat colour, the same conversion is a genuine downgrade — JPEG smears sharp edges into visible fringing. The format is not the question; the content is.
Steps
- 1
Decide whether your PNG is a photo or a graphic
Photographs, continuous tone, no hard edges: convert. Screenshots, logos, charts, anything with text or large flat areas: keep it as PNG, or convert to WebP if size matters.
- 2
Decide what replaces transparency
JPEG has no alpha channel, so every transparent pixel becomes a solid colour. White is the usual default; pick the colour of the background it will sit on, otherwise you get a visible box around your image.
- 3
Convert and choose a quality
Load the PNG into the converter, set the background colour and pick a quality — 85 is a safe default for photographs. Everything runs in your browser.
- 4
Check the edges before you ship it
Look at high-contrast boundaries at 100%. If you see coloured fringing or ringing around edges, the image was a graphic, not a photo — go back to PNG or WebP.
Consider WebP instead
WebP is smaller than JPEG and keeps transparency. If the destination is a website, it is usually the better answer than either.
Keep the PNG
The conversion is one-way. Once JPEG has discarded that information it is gone, so archive the original.