JPG vs PNG vs GIF vs SVG

TL;DR
Just look at this image:

@gasolinehorse on medium.com

We could have a really long discussion about what file type is better. But the thing is, these file types are not meant to fight with eachother. That is because every one of them is made for different purposes. You wouldn't compare an onion with a tomato would you? They are both vegetables but have a very different flavour and texture. That is the same with these file types.

All types explained

JPG
A JPG file is a compressed image format that is popular for web images. It can be used for both photos and graphics. The compression algorithm of a JPG file reduces the size of an image without losing much quality. The downside to this format is that it does not support transparency or animation.

PNG
A PNG file is an uncompressed image format that can be used for both photos and graphics. It supports transparency and animation but it can't reduce the size of an image like a JPG file does.

GIF
A GIF file is also an uncompressed image format and it supports animation but not transparency like a PNG file does.

SVG
An SVG (scalable vector graphic) is another type of graphic that has greater support for animations than other formats do as well as having better resolution than other formats when zoomed in on or enlarged by design software such as Adobe Illustrator or Inkscape.

As a content creator on the web, it is essential to know the differences between these file types. For example, a GIF could work as featured image for your blog, but if you want it to look good, the file size will probably explode. That is why you need a JPG for the featured image. Good quality, small file size.

Upcoming file types like WEBP, AVIF could also be really powerful. However at the time of writing this article, these are not widely supported. We will write an article on these formats in the future.

Converting your file
Picture this (haha, see what we did there?), you have found an amazing PNG image, the image is 20MB, that is way to big. Do you need transparency in your image? Probably not. Time to save some space by converting your file. Luckily at RunningWombat, we have an amazing PNG to JPG converter. You can find it at: https://runningwombat.com/pngtojpg. Or find our other tools at https://runningwombat.com/image

After the conversion, your big PNG will be a very nice and small JPG.

Want to know more about RunningWombat and how we process your files? Take a look at our website, or contact me directly at rowan@runningwombat.com

Cheers, Rowan