Use JPG for photographic delivery
JPG is a practical delivery format for photos because it reaches small file sizes with acceptable visual quality. It is widely accepted by websites, forms, email clients, social platforms, and content management systems.
The tradeoff is lossy compression. Each re-export can discard more detail, especially around text, sharp edges, and flat colors. Keep an original source file and make JPG delivery copies for specific placements.
- Use JPG for photos and complex gradients when transparency is not needed.
- Use PNG instead for screenshots, logos, icons, and text-heavy graphics.
- Use WebP when modern web delivery and smaller file size matter most.
Compression and metadata
Reducing JPG size can help page speed, upload limits, and email delivery. Moderate quality settings often produce a much smaller file without an obvious visual change at the final display size.
For privacy-sensitive photos, remove EXIF metadata before sharing. Compression may strip metadata in some tools, but it should not be treated as the privacy step.
JPG conversion choices
Convert JPG to PNG when an editing workflow needs a lossless copy or a platform asks specifically for PNG. Convert JPG to WebP when a website needs faster delivery for modern browsers.
Converting JPG to another format will not restore detail already lost to JPG compression. Use the cleanest available source when quality matters.