JPG vs PNG vs HEIC: Which Image Format Should You Use?

Short answer: use JPG for photos, PNG for screenshots, logos and anything that needs a transparent background, and treat HEIC as storage-only — it is the format iPhones save by default, but many websites, forms and Windows PCs still cannot open it, so convert HEIC to JPG before you share or upload it. The rest of this guide explains why, in plain English.

JPG: the everyday photo format

JPG (also written JPEG) was designed for photographs. It uses “lossy” compression: it throws away detail your eyes are unlikely to notice, which makes photo files dramatically smaller. A photo that would be 8 MB uncompressed might be 800 KB as a good-quality JPG, and it will still look sharp on a screen or in a normal print.

Because the compression is lossy, two things follow. First, every time you re-save a JPG at low quality, it loses a little more detail — always keep your original and edit a copy. Second, JPG does not support transparency: a see-through background becomes white (or black) when saved as JPG. JPG is supported by every browser, phone, form portal and printer on the planet, which is why it is the safe default for uploads.

PNG: sharp graphics and transparency

PNG uses “lossless” compression — no detail is discarded, so text, logos, diagrams and screenshots stay perfectly crisp, and PNG supports transparent backgrounds. The trade-off is size: a photograph saved as PNG is often five to ten times larger than the same photo as a JPG, with no visible benefit.

That makes PNG the right choice for screenshots (crisp text matters), logos and icons (transparency matters), and simple graphics with flat colours. It is the wrong choice for camera photos you plan to upload to a size-limited form — the file will be needlessly huge.

HEIC: efficient, but not universal

HEIC is the format modern iPhones use by default (Apple calls it High Efficiency). It stores photos at roughly half the size of an equivalent JPG, which is great for your phone storage. The problem is compatibility: many Windows PCs, older software, government portals, job sites and printers still cannot open HEIC files. If a portal says “photo upload failed” for no obvious reason, an HEIC file is a very common cause.

The practical fix is simple: keep the HEIC originals on your phone, and convert a copy to JPG whenever you need to send, upload or print the photo. Our HEIC to JPG converter does this in your browser, so your photos are never uploaded to a server.

Side-by-side comparison

Which format should you choose?

• Uploading a photo to a form, portal or application: JPG — small and accepted everywhere. If the portal has a KB limit, run it through our Image Compressor with an exact target size.
• A screenshot with text people must read: PNG — the text stays razor sharp.
• A logo or graphic over a coloured background: PNG — you need the transparency.
• Photos from your iPhone: leave them as HEIC on the phone; convert to JPG when sharing with anyone who does not use a recent Apple device.
• Printing a photo: JPG at high quality — print shops expect it.

How to convert between formats

1. HEIC to JPG: open the HEIC to JPG tool, add the photo, set quality (90% is a good balance), and download.
2. Too-big JPG or PNG: open the Image Compressor, pick a quality level or an exact KB target, and download the smaller file.
3. Wrong dimensions: use the Image Resizer to set exact pixels or a ready-made preset.

Every conversion on CleverToolkit happens on your own device — useful when the photo is a personal document you would rather not hand to a stranger's server.

Frequently asked questions