Why Convert PNG to JPG
JPG generally produces smaller files than PNG because it uses lossy compression - it discards image data that's least noticeable to the eye in exchange for a much more compact file, while PNG's lossless compression preserves every pixel exactly and pays for that with a larger file. For photographs and other continuous-tone images, this tradeoff is usually a good one: JPG can shrink a photo dramatically while keeping it looking essentially the same on screen, which is exactly why it's often the better choice when smaller file size matters more than preserving every individual pixel.
How to Convert PNG to JPG
Upload your PNG
Drag it in or click Upload Your Image.
JPG is already selected
This page defaults Convert To to JPG - change it if you want a different format instead.
Pick a size, or Best Quality
Choose 20KB, 50KB, 100KB, 200KB, a custom KB value, or leave it on Best Quality.
Click Convert
The JPG downloads automatically the moment it's ready.
PNG vs JPG
Lossy vs. lossless. PNG never discards data - decompressing a PNG gives back exactly the pixels it started with. JPG is lossy: it throws away detail that compresses poorly relative to how visible it is, which is what lets it reach much smaller file sizes at the cost of being an approximation rather than an exact copy.
Typical file size differences. For photographs, JPG is usually dramatically smaller - often a fraction of the equivalent PNG's size at visually comparable quality. For flat graphics with large solid-color areas, the gap narrows, and PNG's lossless compression can occasionally be similar in size or even smaller.
Photographs are where JPG clearly wins - continuous tones and natural noise compress well under JPG's lossy algorithm with minimal visible cost. Logos, text and screenshots are the opposite case: JPG's compression tends to introduce visible artifacts (a slight blur or "ringing") around the sharp, high-contrast edges these images are full of, while PNG renders them exactly.
Transparency is the other major difference: PNG supports a full alpha channel, JPG doesn't support any transparency at all.
What Happens to Transparency
Converting a PNG to JPG can remove transparency, because JPG doesn't support transparent backgrounds the way PNG does. Any transparent or semi-transparent pixels in your source image are flattened onto a solid background - white, by default - before the JPG is encoded. If your PNG relies on transparency (a logo or icon meant to sit on top of other content, for example), converting it to JPG will bake in a visible background rather than preserving the cut-out. In that case, converting to WebP or AVIF instead keeps the alpha channel intact.
When to Keep PNG Instead
PNG is generally preferable for content where JPG's lossy compression and lack of transparency work against it:
- ·Logos, especially ones with flat colors and hard edges
- ·Graphics and icons with sharp, high-contrast boundaries
- ·Screenshots containing text - JPG compression artifacts show up most around sharp text edges
- ·Any image that needs a transparent background
A high JPG quality setting keeps the visual difference on these types of images relatively small, but the conversion is still lossy - it's a matter of degree, not a guarantee that quality loss won't be noticeable, especially if you zoom in or the image contains fine text.
Reducing a PNG to a Specific File Size (KB)
Beyond general compression, this tool supports targeting an exact file size - 20KB, 50KB, 100KB, 200KB, or any custom value you enter. This is especially useful for forms and platforms that enforce a strict upload size limit rather than just wanting a smaller file in general.
Here's what actually happens when you set a target: the tool searches for the highest JPG quality that still produces a file at or under your target size. If even the lowest reasonable quality setting doesn't reach the target at the image's original dimensions, it then reduces the image's dimensions as well, since a smaller image needs less data to encode. This means hitting a very small target on a large source image can affect both visual quality and pixel dimensions, not quality alone.
It's worth being direct about the limits here: not every image can hit an arbitrarily small target size while maintaining a specific quality level - there's a genuine floor to how much detail can be discarded before an image stops looking like a reasonable photo. When a target truly can't be met, the tool returns the smallest result it found and reports that the target wasn't met, rather than claiming success. In practice, targets like 200KB are very achievable for most photos; 50KB is tighter and more likely to involve a visible quality tradeoff or a resize, particularly on larger or more detailed source images.
Common Use Cases
- ·Shrinking a PNG photo before uploading it somewhere with a file size limit.
- ·Converting screenshots or exported photos into the more universally-accepted JPG format for forms, print services, or older software.
- ·Hitting a specific KB target for a profile picture, ID photo upload, or similar form with strict size requirements.
- ·Reducing storage or bandwidth use for large batches of photographic PNGs.
More Ways to Convert
If your PNG needs to keep its transparency, convert PNG to WebP instead - it supports a full alpha channel and still compresses well. For the smallest possible file size on modern browsers, convert PNG to AVIF typically beats both. And if you're starting from a JPG rather than a PNG, our JPG to WebP converter applies the same target-size approach in the other direction.
Frequently Asked Questions
For photographs, almost always yes, often substantially so - JPG's lossy compression is built specifically for photographic detail and noise, which PNG's lossless compression handles far less efficiently. For flat graphics, logos and screenshots with large areas of solid color, the gap is smaller and PNG can occasionally even come out competitive.
The most common reason is file size: a PNG holding a photo carries lossless-compression overhead it doesn't need, and JPG's photo-appropriate compression usually shrinks it considerably. JPG is also the most universally supported image format, which matters for older software, print workflows, and platforms with strict upload requirements.
Yes, by design - JPG uses lossy compression, so some image data is discarded during conversion. Choosing a high quality setting keeps the visual difference relatively small on most photos, but it isn't accurate to call the loss universally invisible; on close inspection, especially around sharp edges or text, compression artifacts can be visible. You control this tradeoff directly through quality or target file size.
Not in the strict sense - JPG is a lossy format, so any PNG-to-JPG conversion discards some data. What you can control is how much: a high quality setting (or a generous target file size) keeps the loss minimal and often hard to notice on screen, while a small target size trades more visible quality for a smaller file.
Keep PNG for logos, icons and graphics with sharp edges, screenshots containing text, and any image that needs a transparent background - JPG handles all of these worse than PNG, independent of file size.
No. JPG has no alpha channel at all, so any transparent or semi-transparent areas in your PNG are flattened onto a solid background (white, by default) during conversion. If you need to keep transparency, use our PNG to WebP or PNG to AVIF converters instead, which both support a full alpha channel.
Generally yes - photographs are exactly the kind of content JPG's lossy compression was designed for (continuous tones, natural noise, no hard edges to preserve), so JPG usually gives you a much smaller file than PNG at a quality level that looks essentially the same on screen.
Upload the PNG above, choose JPG as the output, select the 200KB preset (or type 200 into the custom field), and click Convert. The tool searches for the highest JPG quality that still fits under 200KB, only reducing the image's dimensions if quality reduction alone can't get there. It reports whether the target was actually met, rather than assuming it always will be.
The same process as above, using the 50KB preset instead. A tighter target like 50KB asks for more compression, so on a large or highly detailed source image you may see a more noticeable quality tradeoff, or a small reduction in dimensions if the quality floor is reached before the size target - both are shown in the result so you can judge if it's acceptable.
It depends on the content, not a blanket rule: JPG for photographs (smaller files, minimal visible difference), PNG for logos, icons, and anything needing transparency (JPG's compression artifacts and lack of alpha channel make it a poor fit for those). Many sites correctly use both formats side by side for exactly this reason.
No. Converting a JPG to PNG produces a lossless copy from that point forward, but it can't recover detail that JPG compression already discarded - the PNG will simply be a larger file containing the same, already-reduced information as the JPG.
The file is processed by cloudvertify's conversion engine for the duration of the conversion and isn't kept afterward.