PNG, JPG, or GIF: Which image format is good for websites?

Differences between PNG, JPG, or GIF

First, you should have a basic understanding of each type of image format—its characteristics and how to use it—so you can choose the most accurate one.

What is JPG?

JPG, or JPEG, stands for Joint Photographic Experts Group. This is the standard image format for professional photographers—those who like to share their work on the internet. JPG is preferred because it can compress details and redundant data in high-definition photos. Therefore, even though the size is smaller, the quality of JPG photos is not reduced too much. However, if you have compressed the image with JPG, it will no longer be possible to restore it to its original state.

Because it uses the method of dividing the image into many small areas, JPG will encounter some problems in areas with high contrast. This can be easily seen when you work with texts, icons, and the like. Even with high-definition photos, when zoomed in, you will see a black streak running along straight edges in contrasting locations.

And if the file is saved many times, the image quality when enlarged will decrease even more severely. In this case, the color grid in between the edges will appear clearer, and the area around the contrast area will also be distorted.

If you often download photos online, save them in JPG image format, but note that only once. Limit editing and saving the image multiple times if you do not want the quality to be further reduced.

What is PNG?

PNG stands for Portable Network Graphics; it was originally created to replace GIF image formats. PNG uses a new compression algorithm that does not lose the original data. Even if the PNG file is saved many times, its quality will not decrease.

Another plus of the PNG image format is that it supports transparent colors, allowing you to save an icon, logo, or letter with a transparent background and place it anywhere without fear of showing a white border. ugly.

However, PNG images are quite large in size and often difficult to use on old web browsers. People usually only use it for logos and some special cases (e.g., product images can be zoomed in for customers to see).

What are GIF?

GIF stands for Graphics Interchange Format. GIF uses LZW (data-preserving) compression, where file size can be reduced while image quality remains the same. There are two quite special things about the GIF image format: the file has the ability to save transparent colors and supports animation.

GIF images may be smaller than JPG images due to their limited color palette. Therefore, they are not used in modern photography or image storage. GIF images are now quite outdated and are often only used to create small icons, simple animations, or rough, transparent images (like logos and flags).

Which image format is good to use for your website?

Choose according to your need to use images on the website.

People often place too much importance on optimizing SEO-standard images for the web and forget about their goal, which is the customer. No matter how SEO-standard a website is, if it doesn't attract customers, it's useless.

See the following ways to use image formats on our website:

Logo, banner, and slogan: they all represent the brand, so you should choose the PNG image format for the highest quality.

Product photos: choose beautiful, clear, and highest-quality PNG photos to attract customers.

The photos in the article do not need to be of high quality; just JPG is enough. Images in articles need to meet the criteria of suitability, beauty, and SEO standards (size < 100KB) to increase page loading speed.

In addition, you can also use animated images (GIFs), such as small icons, to increase aesthetics and call-to-action for buyers.

Comparison between PNG and JPG, the two most popular formats today

JPG is a very popular image format today. Using the JPG format helps reduce the image size, but the quality will also decrease. Therefore, if the location where you are going to use the photo is not too important, choose JPG formats. On the contrary, if it is a product sales page or anywhere that needs clear, high-quality images for customers to refer to, you should use PNG format.

Some notes when using images in website design

Basically, on a normal introduction website, when you use JPG images, the images still display well, and users can view the images easily without them being too different from other formats.

In a better case, you can use all images in PNG format, a format used for most images on the imgbg.net website, along with beautiful effects to make the website truly impressive.

Above are our shares about image issues on the website. Hopefully, through this article, you can choose a good and suitable image format for your website. Good luck.