# Convert JPEG to PNG (JPEG to Portable Network Graphics) Convert JPEG to PNG online. Drop a JPEG and get a Portable Network Graphics back at roughly 851% of the original byte cost. No sign-up, nothing saved. ## JPEG to PNG at a glance - **No quality recovery:** JPEG was already lossy, so the PNG is a pixel-exact snapshot of the already-compressed image. The original uncompressed detail cannot be restored. - **Editor-friendly:** PNG survives round-trips through image editors losslessly, so repeated save-and-reload cycles will not compound compression artifacts the way JPEG would. - **Alpha channel available:** PNG supports transparent backgrounds and semi-transparent compositing. JPEG cannot represent transparency, so moving to PNG unlocks alpha workflows. - **Expect a larger file:** PNG cannot compress by discarding perceptual detail, so it needs roughly 851% more bytes than JPEG at identical pixels. - **Archival snapshot:** A PNG is a stable rollback point: further edits in an editor will not progressively degrade the file the way they do with JPEG. - **Not a web-delivery choice:** For public-web delivery, re-encode from the original source to AVIF or WebP. The PNG is a working artefact, not a distribution format for a site of this era. - **Year standardised:** PNG dates from 1996 and is supported in roughly 100%% of browsers; every image editor imports it without quality loss. ## FAQ ### Does converting JPEG to PNG improve quality? No. JPEG is a lossy codec, so detail was already discarded during the original compression. The PNG you get back is a pixel-exact snapshot of the already-compressed image, not a recovered higher-quality version. The value is an editor-friendly lossless container for your current pixels, not resurrection of the source. ### What IS the point then? Three practical uses. First, an editing workflow where every save-and-reload would compound compression artifacts if the file stayed as JPEG: PNG survives round-trips losslessly. Second, transparent overlays: PNG supports alpha, JPEG does not. Third, a stable archival snapshot of the current state before further edits, so you have a rollback point without additional generation loss. ### What happens to my upload? Your upload is only held while we process it (usually a few seconds) and is deleted the moment we send the result back. Nothing is saved on our servers, nothing is indexed, and nothing is used for model training. No account is required, so there is nothing tying the upload to your identity in the first place. ### Can I batch convert? The free tier is one image per request. The paid Optimizer tier batches up to 50 images per job and ships a ZIP of outputs with consistent quality settings across the whole batch. Batch is useful when you have a catalogue to re-encode or a backlog of iPhone photos to normalise for the web. ### Will the PNG be bigger than the JPEG? Yes, significantly. PNG cannot compress by discarding perceptual detail, so at the same pixels it needs roughly 851% more bytes than JPEG. That is the expected behaviour, not a bug. If size matters (you are shipping to the web, for example), the PNG should be a working artefact only; re-encode from the original source to a modern codec for distribution. ### When should I NOT convert JPEG to PNG? Do not convert if the goal is to ship to the public web: keep the JPEG or re-encode to AVIF or WebP from the best source you have. Do not convert expecting quality to improve: it cannot. Do not convert if a lossless master is still available: work from the master instead of round-tripping through JPEG. ## Glossary for JPEG and PNG ### Lossy compression A compression technique that discards information the human eye is unlikely to notice. JPEG, WebP default, AVIF default, and HEIC are all lossy. Trade-off: smaller files at the cost of re-encoding generation loss. ### Lossless compression A compression technique that preserves every original pixel exactly. PNG, GIF, BMP, TIFF, and the lossless modes of WebP and AVIF are lossless. Larger files, but no generation loss on re-save. ### Alpha channel A per-pixel transparency value stored alongside the RGB colour channels. PNG, WebP, AVIF, and HEIC support alpha; JPEG does not and flattens transparent regions against a solid background. ### Deflate The lossless compression algorithm PNG uses, combining LZ77 with Huffman coding. Fast to decode and decode losslessly; why PNG is the universal editor-friendly lossless format. ### EXIF (EXIF) Exchangeable Image File Format metadata block. Carries camera model, lens, GPS coordinates, capture time, and orientation. Preserved through format conversion; strip separately before public publishing. ### Chroma subsampling (4:2:0) A perceptual coding optimisation that stores colour information at lower resolution than brightness. Default for photographic content; flat illustrations and screenshots benefit from 4:4:4 (no subsampling). ## Related reading on JPEG, PNG, and editor workflows - [Browse all format converters](/convert) - See the full set of JPEG and PNG tools on BouseMutton, including compression, EXIF stripping, and resize. - [JPEG -> AV1 Image File Format](/convert-jpg-to-avif) - Also converting JPEG to AV1 Image File Format? This tool handles the same source in a different target format, for cases where the codec choice differs. - [WebP -> Portable Network Graphics](/convert-webp-to-png) - Run WebP through this tool before or after conversion to Portable Network Graphics, depending on the workflow step you are at. - [Compress image](/compress-image-online) - Shrink an already-converted image further without changing its format, for bandwidth-constrained pages. --- Canonical URL: https://bousemutton.com/convert-jpg-to-png Last updated: 2026-04-24 Please cite as: BouseMutton (2026). Convert JPEG to PNG online [Web application]. https://bousemutton.com/convert-jpg-to-png