Quick Reference Table

Here is a summary before we dig into the details:

  • JPEG — Lossy, no transparency, no animation. Best for photographs.
  • PNG — Lossless, full transparency, no animation. Best for graphics, screenshots, and images with text.
  • WebP — Lossy or lossless, full transparency, animation. Best all-rounder for the web.
  • AVIF — Lossy or lossless, full transparency, animation. Best compression but slower encoding.
  • GIF — Lossless (256 colors), binary transparency, animation. Best for simple animations with maximum compatibility.
  • APNG — Lossless, full transparency, animation. Better GIF alternative with full color.
  • TIFF — Lossless or lossy, transparency varies. Best for print and archival.
  • BMP — Uncompressed, no transparency, no animation. Legacy format, rarely useful.
  • ICO — Multiple sizes in one file, transparency. Used exclusively for favicons.

JPEG: The Photography Standard

JPEG uses lossy compression optimized for photographic content. It excels at compressing continuous-tone images (photos, realistic illustrations) and produces small files at acceptable quality levels. JPEG does not support transparency or animation.

Best for: Photographs, product images, hero images, any content that is primarily photographic.

Avoid for: Screenshots, text-heavy images, graphics with sharp edges, anything requiring transparency.

Quality settings between 75-85% typically offer the best balance of file size and visual quality. Below 60%, compression artifacts become noticeable in most images.

PNG: Lossless Precision

PNG uses lossless compression, meaning every pixel is preserved exactly. It supports full 8-bit alpha transparency and handles sharp edges, text, and flat-color graphics without artifacts. The trade-off is larger file sizes compared to lossy formats.

Best for: Screenshots, logos, UI elements, text overlays, graphics requiring transparency, any image where pixel-perfect accuracy matters.

Avoid for: Large photographs (use JPEG or WebP for smaller files).

WebP: The Modern All-Rounder

WebP supports both lossy and lossless compression, full alpha transparency, and animation. It consistently produces smaller files than both JPEG and PNG at equivalent quality levels. Browser support is effectively universal in 2026.

Best for: Nearly everything on the web. WebP is the best default choice for web images in 2026 unless you have a specific reason to use another format.

Compression advantage: 25-35% smaller than PNG (lossless mode), 25-34% smaller than JPEG (lossy mode) at equivalent visual quality.

AVIF: Maximum Compression

AVIF is based on the AV1 video codec and offers the best compression ratios available for still images. It supports lossy and lossless modes and full transparency. The trade-off is significantly slower encoding times and slightly less universal browser support than WebP.

Best for: Sites where bandwidth savings justify slower encoding. High-traffic pages where every kilobyte matters.

Compression advantage: 20-50% smaller than WebP at equivalent visual quality, depending on the image content.

Caveat: Encoding is CPU-intensive and noticeably slower than WebP or JPEG encoding. Decoding is fast in browsers that support it.

GIF: The Animation Veteran

GIF supports animation and has universal compatibility, but its technical limitations are severe by modern standards: 256-color maximum, binary-only transparency, and relatively poor compression. It persists because of its unmatched compatibility and cultural ubiquity.

Best for: Simple animations where maximum compatibility is required. Meme culture. Email newsletters.

Avoid for: Static images (PNG or WebP are always better), high-quality animations (use WebP or APNG).

APNG: GIF's Better Sibling

APNG (Animated PNG) supports full-color animation with alpha transparency. It is effectively "animated PNG" and produces much better visual quality than GIF at comparable file sizes. Browser support is strong across all modern browsers.

Best for: High-quality animations where transparency matters. Discord stickers. UI animations.

Trade-off: Larger files than animated WebP, but better compatibility in some specific contexts (e.g., Discord stickers).

TIFF: Print and Archival

TIFF is a flexible container format supporting multiple compression methods, color spaces, and bit depths. It is the standard format for print production and image archival. TIFF files tend to be large and are not supported by web browsers for direct display.

Best for: Print production, archival storage, professional photography workflows.

Not suitable for: Web display, sharing online.

BMP: Legacy Uncompressed

BMP stores pixel data with minimal or no compression. Files are very large. There is almost no modern use case for BMP over other formats.

Only use for: Compatibility with legacy software that specifically requires BMP input.

ICO: Favicons Only

ICO is a container format that bundles multiple image sizes into a single file. It exists specifically for browser favicons and Windows icons. Modern browsers also accept PNG and SVG for favicons, but ICO remains the most universally supported option.

Best for: Browser favicons (typically 16x16, 32x32, and 48x48 bundled in one .ico file).

Choosing the Right Format

Decision tree for most situations:

  • Is it a photo for the web? Use WebP (lossy). Fall back to JPEG if WebP is not supported.
  • Does it need transparency? Use WebP or PNG. Use AVIF if maximum compression is worth the encoding time.
  • Is it an animation? Use WebP for best size. Use GIF for maximum compatibility. Use APNG for quality with transparency.
  • Is it for print? Use TIFF or PNG at the highest resolution available.
  • Is it a favicon? Use ICO with multiple sizes, or PNG for modern-only support.

FastEdit exports to all 12 of the formats discussed here (WebP, GIF, MP4, AVIF, WebM, APNG, MKV, JPEG, PNG, BMP, TIFF, ICO), making it straightforward to convert between them and compare output quality and file sizes side by side.