There are some differences between the image formats JPG and PNG. It is worth knowing these, as it makes it easier to choose the optimal image format.
JPG: Differences to PNG and other formats
Both JPG, or JPEG, and PNG were developed around 30 years ago. But in addition to some similarities, there are some serious differences between the “Joint Photographic Experts Group”, or JPG for short, and “Portable Network Graphics”, or PNG for short. The reason for the many new formats in the 1990s was the patent rights that applied to some image formats such as GIF and were therefore not freely available.
- Compression: One of the main focuses of the JPG image format is to significantly reduce the file size. This means that when saving the image in JPG format, some image data has to be removed. This lossy compression is particularly noticeable if you edit the photo frequently and then save it as a JPG file.
- Variety of colors: The compression is hardly noticeable when it comes to the variety of colors. The JPG image format supports up to 16.7 million colors.
- File size: However, the strong compression of the image has an extremely noticeable effect on the file size. JPG files are many times smaller than other image formats, such as PNG. A JPG file can be up to 90 percent smaller than the original image.
- transparency: JPG does not allow transparent backgrounds at all. For this reason, the image format is usually not suitable for logos or graphics.
- Metadata: Additional information about the image is stored using so-called metadata. This includes the time and location of the photo and, for example, the camera model.
PNG image format: advantages and disadvantages
Just like JPG, the PNG image format also has some advantages and disadvantages:
- Compression: In contrast to JPG, PNG compression is lossless. If you save your photo in this format, all image data is retained. This means that you do not have to worry about any loss of quality, even if you edit the image and save it multiple times as a PNG file.
- Variety of colors: PNG also supports around 16 million colors and is therefore well suited for images with many details.
- File size: Since the PNG format retains all file information, the images cannot be compressed to the same extent as with other formats. This can, for example, greatly increase the loading time of a website if you want to present a lot of images. The usually not insignificant file size can also cause problems when sending photos
- transparency: The PNG image format not only allows transparent backgrounds. PNG also supports various levels of transparency. This makes the image format ideal for creating logos and graphics.
- Metadata: The PNG format also stores the relevant metadata. However, other programs sometimes have problems with this image format because they cannot read the data.