PNG, JPEG or WebP? Choosing the Right Export Format

PNG: lossless and transparent

PNG keeps every pixel exactly as edited — zero compression artifacts — and supports full alpha transparency. It's the right choice for screenshots, logos, graphics with text, UI assets, and anything you'll edit again later, because re-saving a PNG never degrades it.

The trade-off is file size: photos saved as PNG can be 5–10× larger than the equivalent JPEG. A 12-megapixel camera photo that would be 3 MB as a JPEG can easily hit 25 MB as a PNG. Using PNG for photographic content is the single most common cause of slow web pages.

• Use PNG for: logos, screenshots, icons, graphics with sharp text, cutouts with transparent backgrounds, master copies you'll re-edit.
• Avoid PNG for: photographs destined for the web, email attachments, anything where file size matters more than pixel perfection.

JPEG: the universal photo format

JPEG compresses photographs dramatically with barely visible quality loss at 80–90% quality settings. It's supported absolutely everywhere — every social platform, CMS, email client, printer, and operating system made in the last thirty years.

JPEG's weaknesses are sharp edges and flat colors: text, line art, and solid-color graphics develop visible 'mosquito' artifacts around their edges. It also can't store transparency, and quality degrades a little every time you re-save — so keep a PNG master if you'll edit repeatedly.

• Use JPEG for: photos for social media, email attachments, prints, and anywhere maximum compatibility matters.
• Avoid JPEG for: logos, screenshots with text, transparent cutouts, and files you'll re-save many times.

WebP: the modern middle ground

WebP typically beats JPEG by 25–35% at the same visual quality and supports transparency like PNG — plus a lossless mode that undercuts PNG's size. All modern browsers have supported it for years, making it the default recommendation for images on websites.

Its only real caveat is compatibility outside the browser: some older desktop software, email clients, and content management systems still don't accept it. If the image is headed for a website you control, WebP is almost always the right answer; if it's headed into someone else's software, JPEG is the safer bet.

The 30-second decision tree

When in doubt, ask three questions in order:

• Does it need transparency? → Yes: WebP for web, PNG for everything else.
• Is it a photograph? → Yes: WebP for web, JPEG for email/social/print.
• Will you edit it again later? → Yes: also save a PNG master.

Test before you commit

Theory only gets you so far — the right quality setting depends on the actual image. In PPPP's export dialog you can switch between PNG, JPEG, and WebP, drag the quality slider, and watch the estimated file size and the live preview update in real time. Export the same image in all three formats once and compare them side by side; it's the fastest way to build an intuition for the trade-offs.

And if you're exporting for a platform with a hard size limit, skip the guesswork entirely: set a target file size and let the editor search for the highest quality that fits.