Saltar al contenido

Image format guide — JPG, PNG, WebP, SVG, GIF, AVIF

Picking the right image format affects load speed, visual quality, and user experience. Our guide compares the 6 most-used formats: JPG, PNG, WebP, SVG, GIF, and AVIF. See each format's features, pros and cons, browser support, and use-case recommendations.

Updated:

JPG

Joint Photographic Experts Group

.jpg / .jpeg | Raster (pixeles)

Transparencia
Animacion
Lossy
Lossless

Mejor para

  • Fotos
  • Imagenes con muchos colores
  • Fondos de pantalla
Tamano promedio

Mediano

Soporte en browsers

100%

Ventajas

  • Soporte universal
  • Buen ratio compresion/calidad
  • Ideal para fotografias

Desventajas

  • Sin transparencia
  • Pierde calidad al recomprimir
  • No soporta animaciones

Tabla comparativa

FormatoTransp.Anim.TamanoSoporte
JPG
Mediano100%
PNG
Grande100%
WebP
Pequeno97%+
SVG
Muy pequeno100%
GIF
Grande100%
AVIF
Muy pequeno93%+

Guia rapida: que formato usar

Foto para web: WebP (con fallback JPG)

Logo o icono: SVG (o PNG si necesitas raster)

Screenshot: PNG

Animacion corta: GIF (o WebP animado)

Maximo rendimiento: AVIF (con fallback WebP)

Redes sociales: JPG o PNG (segun transparencia)

How it works

1

Pick a format

Click any of the 6 formats (JPG, PNG, WebP, SVG, GIF, AVIF) to see its full feature set.

2

Compare features

Review the comparison table to see transparency, animation, average size, and support for each format side by side.

3

Check the quick guide

Use the quick guide section at the end to instantly know which format to use per case: photo, logo, screenshot, animation, etc.

Practical guide to choosing the right image format

The difference between JPG and PNG seems technical, but it impacts your creator experience directly. JPG is lossy compression: every time you save an image as JPG, it loses a bit of quality. Perfect for photos where that loss is imperceptible. PNG doesn't lose quality and supports transparency, but file sizes are much heavier.

WebP is the format everyone should be using in 2025. It weighs 30% less than JPG at the same quality, supports transparency like PNG, and animations like GIF. 97% of browsers support it. If you publish web content or work on your link page, WebP is the best choice in nearly every case.

SVG is a special case: it's vector, meaning it scales to any size without losing quality. Perfect for logos, icons, and simple illustrations. But it doesn't work for photos. If your logo is in PNG or JPG and you scale it up, it pixelates. In SVG you can put it on a billboard and it looks perfect. If you don't have your logo in SVG yet, ask your designer.

Frequently asked questions

What's the best format for the web?+
WebP is the best general-purpose web format: 30% lighter than JPG with similar quality, supports transparency, and has 97%+ browser support. AVIF is even better but with less support (93%).
When should I use PNG instead of JPG?+
Use PNG when you need transparency (logos, icons) or when the image has text or graphics with sharp edges. For non-transparent photos, JPG is more efficient size-wise.
Does SVG work for photos?+
No. SVG is a vector format ideal for logos, icons, and simple illustrations. For photos and high-color images, use JPG, WebP, or AVIF.

Related tools

You know which format to use. Now optimize your presence.

Build your link page with optimized images. Free.

Create my free page