Image Format Converter
Most format conversions are the same canvas operation with a different encoder on the end, which is why they belong on one page rather than fifteen. What actually differs is which format you should be targeting. Pick a direction below, and read on for the reasoning.
How to use it
- Choose your target format: PNG, JPG, or WebP.
- Drop in a source image. The accepted extensions update to match your target.
- The converted file downloads immediately.
Choosing a target format
The three formats solve different problems, and the right answer is usually determined by the content rather than by preference.
What each format is actually good at:
- PNG is lossless and supports alpha. Correct for screenshots, UI assets, line art, diagrams, and anything containing text. Poor for photographs, where it produces files several times larger than necessary.
- JPG is lossy, has no alpha, and is excellent on photographic content with smooth gradients. Poor on text and hard edges, where it produces visible ringing.
- WebP does both. Lossy WebP typically lands 25 to 35 percent smaller than an equivalent-quality JPEG, and lossless WebP usually beats PNG by around 20 percent. It also supports alpha in both modes, which is the combination neither of the older formats offers.
The case for WebP, and the remaining caveats
WebP is supported by every current browser and has been for years, so the historical compatibility argument no longer applies to the web. For web delivery it is close to a default choice.
Outside the browser the picture is patchier. Some older desktop software, a number of print workflows, and a few content management systems still handle WebP poorly or not at all. If the image is going to a client, a printer, or an unknown pipeline, JPG or PNG remains the safer handoff format.
Source format notes
BMP files are usually uncompressed, so almost any conversion produces a dramatically smaller file. There is rarely a reason to keep a BMP once it has been converted.
TIFF support is the one genuine limitation here. Conversion relies on the browser image decoder, and browsers support only a narrow subset of TIFF: typically uncompressed or LZW-compressed, 8-bit RGB. Multi-page TIFFs, 16-bit scientific imagery, CMYK scans, and JPEG-in-TIFF files will fail to decode. That is a browser constraint rather than a converter one, and a desktop tool is the right answer for those files.
Converting to JPG flattens any transparency onto white, exactly as it does elsewhere. If your source has an alpha channel and you want to keep it, target PNG or WebP.
At a glance
| Targets | PNG, JPG, WebP |
|---|---|
| Sources | PNG, JPG, WebP, BMP, TIFF |
| Alpha preserved | PNG and WebP targets only |
| TIFF support | Limited to what the browser can decode |
Frequently asked questions
Should I just use WebP for everything on my site?
For web delivery, largely yes. Every current browser supports it, and it is smaller than both JPEG and PNG at comparable quality while supporting transparency. Keep JPG or PNG for files you hand to other people or send to print.
My TIFF will not convert. What is wrong?
Browsers decode only a narrow subset of TIFF. Multi-page documents, 16-bit images, CMYK scans, and JPEG-compressed TIFFs are all outside it. Convert those with a desktop tool such as ImageMagick.
Does converting to WebP lose quality?
The lossy mode does, at roughly the same perceptual cost as a high-quality JPEG but in a smaller file. Converting an already-lossy JPEG to lossy WebP means a second generation of loss, which is usually invisible but is not free.
Why does my image lose its transparent background?
You targeted JPG, which has no alpha channel. Transparent pixels are flattened to white. Target PNG or WebP to keep transparency.
Read more
Choosing an image format — Why the same photograph can be 40 KB or 4 MB depending on a single dropdown, and how to choose deliberately.