JPG to PNG
Converted in this tab, with nothing further thrown away.
The short answer
Converting a JPEG to PNG does not put back the detail the JPEG already discarded. What it does give you is a lossless container with an alpha channel, which is what design software, print workflows and anything that needs a transparent background ask for. Expect the file to get bigger, often several times over.
Converting to PNG will not undo what a JPEG has already lost, but it does give you a lossless file with an alpha channel, which is what editors and print workflows want.
The formula
decode the JPEG → draw it onto a canvas → encode as PNG, losing nothing further
Worked examples
- A photograph
- larger file, identical picture
- A JPEG saved at low quality
- the blocky artefacts are kept too
- A scan you want to edit
- safe to re-save repeatedly
Reference table
| Format | Compression | Re-saving | Alpha channel |
|---|---|---|---|
| JPEG | Lossy, every save | Degrades each time | None |
| PNG | Lossless | Identical every time | Full 8-bit |
| WebP | Lossy or lossless | Depends which | Full 8-bit |
| GIF | Lossless, 256 colours | Identical every save | On or off |
How to use it
- 01Drop the JPEG inOr pick a file. Your browser decodes it locally, so nothing is uploaded and there is nothing to wait for.
- 02Save the PNGThe panel shows both sizes. Expect a larger file: PNG stores every pixel rather than approximating them.
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When PNG is the right container
Lossless matters while you are still working
JPEG compresses on every save. Open, crop, save, open again, adjust, save again, and the artefacts pile up. PNG does not do that: every save is identical to the last. If a file is going through several rounds of editing, convert it once at the start and export whatever the final format needs to be at the end.
The alpha channel is the other reason
Logos, product shots and anything that has to sit on a coloured background need transparency, and JPEG has none. Converting to PNG does not create transparency, but it gives the file somewhere to put it, which is what design software is asking for when it refuses your JPEG.
What to expect from the file size
A photograph will grow, often several times over. That is the honest cost of keeping every pixel. If the size is a problem and you do not need lossless, WebP sits between the two: much smaller than PNG, with the alpha channel JPEG lacks.
Questions people ask
Does converting to PNG improve the quality?
No. Whatever the JPEG discarded when it was made is gone, and no format can put it back. What you get is a file that will not lose anything further, no matter how many times it is saved. That is the whole reason to convert before editing rather than after.
Why is the PNG so much bigger?
Because it keeps every pixel exactly, and photographs have a great many pixels that are all slightly different. PNG compression is very good at flat colour and line art, and not good at photographic noise. A three-times increase is normal, and more than that is not unusual.
Will the PNG have a transparent background?
Not by itself. A JPEG has no transparency to carry over, so the PNG arrives fully opaque. What you gain is the alpha channel: an editor can now cut a background out and the result will save without a white box around it.