PNG to JPG converter

Why turn a PNG into a JPG

A PNG stores every pixel exactly, which is right for a screenshot or a logo and wasteful for a photograph. A photo saved as PNG is often several times the size of the same photo as a JPG, and that is what trips upload limits on job sites, forms and email. JPG is also the format that almost every phone, printer, marketplace and old piece of software accepts without question. If a site says "JPG only" or "under 2 MB", a JPG is usually the answer. getSVG explains the trade in more depth in JPG vs PNG.

How to convert PNG to JPG

1. Choose a background colour if your PNGs have transparent areas. White is selected unless you pick Black, Light grey or any other colour.
2. Set the quality if you want. 92 is the starting point; lower it for a smaller file.
3. Drop the PNG files on this page, choose them, or paste a copied image. Several at once is fine.
4. Save. Click Save JPG next to a file, or Save all to get them together in one ZIP. Each JPG keeps the name of the original with the new extension.

Transparent areas need a colour

JPG has no transparency at all: every pixel must have a colour. So before a transparent PNG becomes a JPG, something has to be painted behind it. Here that is white by default, which suits product photos and documents. The swatches offer black and light grey, and the colour button opens your system's colour picker, where you can pick any colour, and on most systems type an exact hex value, to match a brand or a page background. The hex code of the current colour is shown beside the swatches. Change the colour after converting and every file in the list is converted again with the new one. Soft edges, such as hair in a cutout, blend smoothly into the colour you chose.

That is also why a transparent PNG so often turns black when it is saved as JPG in another app or website. The transparent pixels still hold a colour value underneath, usually black, and a converter that does not fill the background first simply shows it. Why a PNG shows a black or white background goes through the other places this happens.

What changes, and what does not

The width and height stay the same, and so does everything that was opaque in the PNG, apart from compression. The file gets smaller, for photographs by a large margin. Some detail is lost, because JPG is lossy: it rounds off fine detail the eye does not easily notice. The quality slider decides how much. Around 85 to 92 a photo usually looks the same as the PNG on screen; towards 50 the file is much smaller and blocky marks start to show around edges and text. Moving the slider sets the quality for files you add next; click Apply quality to the list to convert the files already there again.

Transparency is gone, replaced by the colour you chose. Metadata is left behind: text notes, dates and any other details stored in the PNG are not copied into the JPG.

When not to use JPG

• Logos, icons and text. JPG smears the sharp edges and flat colours they are made of. Keep them as PNG.
• Anything you will edit and save again. Each JPG save loses a little more. Keep the PNG as the master copy and save a JPG from it at the end.
• A cutout that must stay transparent. On a website, PNG to WebP gives a smaller file that keeps the transparency.

For a product shot on a clean white background, remove the background first, then save a JPG on white. Each converted file here has a Remove background button that opens the original in getPNG's background remover in the same browser, still without uploading it, and the remover can save a JPG on a solid colour too. White backgrounds for product photos covers the rules the marketplaces set.

Converting without uploading

Most online PNG to JPG converters upload your files to their server and convert them there. This page does the whole job with the image decoder and encoder built into your browser, so the files stay on this device: nothing is sent to getPNG or anyone else. Screenshots of bank statements, signed documents and unreleased designs are exactly the kind of PNG that should not travel. Load the page, switch off Wi-Fi, and it still works.