Image formats explained
JPG, PNG, WebP, HEIC, AVIF and more: what each is for, when to use it and what to convert it to.
JPGThe common language of photosJPG is the common language of photos. Almost every camera, phone, program and website understands it, and it keeps photos small by discarding detail the eye rarely misses.PNGLossless and transparentPNG is lossless and supports transparency. It keeps screenshots, logos and graphics perfectly sharp, but it is a heavy choice for ordinary photos.WebPLight for the webWebP makes images lighter for the web. It handles photos and graphics, supports transparency and animation, and works in all current major browsers.HEICiPhone photoHEIC is the default photo format on iPhones. It saves storage space, but many computers, browsers and upload forms cannot open it without converting it first.AVIFNext-gen, smallestAVIF is a next-generation format that usually makes the smallest image files. It works in all current major browsers, but it is slower to create and less common outside the web.PDFDocumentPDF is the standard format for documents that must look the same everywhere. It is not an image format, but images go into PDFs and come out of them all the time.SVGVector drawingSVG describes images as shapes instead of pixels, so logos and icons stay perfectly sharp at any size. It is ideal for graphics and unsuitable for photos.GIFAnimated, 256 coloursGIF is the classic format for short animations. It is supported everywhere, but its 256-color limit makes photos look grainy and its files get large quickly.BMPUncompressedBMP is Microsoft's bitmap format. It stores pixels in a simple, usually uncompressed way, which makes it easy for programs to read but produces very large files.TIFFPrint and scannerTIFF is the workhorse format of scanning, printing and archiving. It is flexible and can be lossless, but files are large and browsers generally cannot display them.ICOIconICO is the icon format of Windows and the classic favicon.ico of websites. One file holds several sizes, so the right one can be shown in each place.