Convert image format

Which image format should you actually use?

Converting a file is easy; choosing the right target format is the part that trips people up. Picking well decides whether your image stays sharp, keeps a transparent background, animates, or downloads as a small file. Here is a plain-language guide to the formats this converter reads and writes, followed by the practical reasons you would move from one to another. For a deeper side-by-side, see WebP vs PNG vs JPG vs AVIF.

The common formats, in plain terms

JPEG is the default for photographs. It uses lossy compression, so files are small, but it cannot store transparency and re-saving repeatedly degrades quality. PNG is lossless and supports transparency, which makes it ideal for logos, screenshots, line art, and any cutout that needs a see-through background — at the cost of larger files for photos. WebP is the modern middle ground: it does both lossy and lossless, supports transparency, and is usually smaller than the equivalent JPEG or PNG, which is why it is a strong default for the web. AVIF compresses even harder for the same quality but takes longer to encode and is best when small download size matters most.

SVG is a vector format for shapes and icons that scale to any size without blurring; this converter preserves SVG when the input is already SVG, but turning a photo into SVG only wraps the image inside a vector file rather than tracing it into true vectors. PDF is best when you need a shareable or printable document; multi-page PDF input is split into one image per page and downloads as a ZIP. TIFF shows up in scanning and print workflows, ICO is the format for website favicons, and GIF here is handled as a single still frame rather than an animation.

Why people convert in the first place

Most conversions come down to a destination's rules. A website or marketplace asks for JPEG or WebP to keep pages fast; a design tool needs a transparent PNG; a favicon generator wants an ICO; an iPhone hands you a HEIC file that a Windows app or older website refuses to open, so you convert it to JPEG or PNG. Other times the goal is size: switching a heavy PNG photo to WebP or AVIF can cut the download dramatically with little visible change. Knowing the reason makes the target format obvious.

Working with batches and documents

You can select a single file or a whole batch and convert them in one pass. When the result is more than one file — a batch, or the pages of a PDF — the converter bundles the output into a ZIP so you only manage one download. HEIC photos are decoded locally where your browser supports it, and any row that cannot be converted in your current browser is flagged so you can switch its output to a safer choice like PNG, JPEG, or WebP.

What stays on your device, and what to expect

The converter uses your browser's own decoders and Canvas export, so the files you pick are processed locally rather than uploaded to a PixTools server. The flip side is that browsers differ: some cannot export AVIF, and unusual PDF, HEIC, TIFF, or SVG variations may not decode everywhere. If an output fails, try a mainstream format first, reduce very large files, or retry in a current version of Chrome, Edge, Firefox, or Safari. To go further, compress the result with Image Compressor, resize it with Image Resizer, or pull text out of a converted scan with Image To Text.