JPG to PNG

What the conversion does and does not do

The tool decodes your JPG and saves the same pixels as a lossless PNG. From that point, the image can be edited and saved repeatedly without the gradual degradation JPG suffers on each re-save.

It does not restore detail that JPG compression already removed: blocky artefacts in a heavily compressed photo remain in the PNG. And although PNG supports transparency, a JPG has none to carry over, so the background stays opaque. To make the background transparent, use Remove Image Background, which exports a transparent PNG.

Good reasons to convert

• An app, game engine or upload form only accepts PNG.
• You will edit the image many times, for example annotating a screenshot of a photo, and want each save to be lossless.
• You plan to add transparency later in an editor and need a format that can hold it.
• You are assembling a design file where every asset should be in the same lossless format.

Expect a larger file

Lossless compression cannot discard information, and photographs contain a lot of fine variation. A JPG photo converted to PNG is typically several times larger. That is expected and not a fault in the conversion.

How to convert JPG to PNG

1. Choose one or more JPG or JPEG files.
2. Keep PNG as the output format; PNG has no quality slider because it is lossless.
3. Leave dimensions empty to keep the original size, or enter a width to resize at the same time.
4. Convert, download, and keep the original JPG if file size matters elsewhere.

A worked example

A developer needs a texture for a game prototype, and the engine's importer only accepts PNG. The artist supplied a 1024 × 1024 JPG. Converting it gives a PNG the importer accepts, and because the developer will tint and re-save it several times while testing, no additional compression artefacts build up along the way.

Contrast this with someone who converts a blurry 200 × 200 JPG profile picture hoping PNG will make it crisper. The result is the same blurry image in a larger file. For that goal, the only real fix is a higher-resolution original.

JPG, PNG or WebP?

JPG is best for photographs that just need to be shared. PNG is best for screenshots, graphics with sharp edges, transparency and images that will be edited repeatedly. WebP can do both lossy and lossless compression, supports transparency, and is usually the smallest of the three for websites. Our guide to JPG vs PNG covers the trade-offs in more depth.

Common misconceptions

Understanding these points avoids the most common disappointment with this conversion: expecting it to improve an image rather than simply change the way it is stored.

• PNG is not higher quality by itself. It preserves exactly what it is given; a low-quality JPG becomes a low-quality PNG.
• PNG does not automatically remove backgrounds. A white background in the JPG stays white in the PNG.
• A bigger file does not mean detail was added. It reflects lossless storage of the same pixels.
• Converting back to JPG later adds another round of lossy compression. If you need JPG again, use the original JPG rather than converting the PNG back.
• Search engines do not rank PNG images above JPG. For web pages, smaller files load faster, so a well-compressed JPG or WebP is usually the better choice.

Quick answers

Can I convert several JPGs at once? Yes. Choose multiple files and each one is converted to its own PNG.

Does conversion keep the same dimensions? Yes, unless you enter a new width or height.

Is there a quality slider? Not for PNG. Lossless PNG stores the pixels exactly, so there is nothing to tune; size depends on the image content and dimensions.

How do I make the PNG smaller? Reduce its dimensions with Image Resizer, or, if transparency is not needed and the destination accepts it, use WebP, which offers lossless and high-quality lossy modes at a fraction of the size.

What about colour accuracy? The pixels are decoded and stored without further compression, so colours in the PNG match what your browser displays for the JPG. Unusual embedded colour profiles may be simplified, which is rarely visible outside professional print work.

Are files uploaded? No. The conversion happens in your browser.