How to convert image to PNG comes down to one choice. Use our browser tool for a JPG, WebP, or AVIF file and pick PNG as the output, or use your device's built-in export for a HEIC photo, since this tool does not read HEIC yet. Either way you get a lossless PNG in seconds, free, with no signup and nothing to install.
People convert to PNG for two reasons, and only two. The destination needs transparency, or it needs the image reproduced exactly, pixel for pixel, the way a screenshot, a logo, or a diagram with text has to be. PNG's lossless compression does not come with a size discount, so for anything photographic, expect the PNG to end up bigger than what you started with. For what makes PNG lossless in the first place, see the PNG guide.
Which image formats can you convert to PNG?
Almost any raster image converts to PNG: JPG, WebP, AVIF, HEIC, TIFF, BMP, and a still GIF frame all have a route. What changes is the tool, not whether it can be done. Our browser tool converts JPG, WebP, and AVIF directly. HEIC and the older desktop formats go through your operating system's built-in export instead.
| Source format | Converts in our browser tool | Best method |
|---|---|---|
| JPG / JPEG | Yes | Browser tool |
| WebP | Yes | Browser tool |
| AVIF | Yes | Browser tool |
| HEIC (iPhone photos) | No | OS export, Photos or Preview |
| TIFF | No | OS export, Paint or Preview |
| BMP | No | OS export, Paint or Preview |
| GIF (single frame) | No | OS export or editor |
If you have a browser PNG converter open, three of those formats are one drag away. The rest take a built-in export that already ships with Windows and macOS, so you still do not have to install anything.
How to convert image to PNG on any device
The fastest route depends on your file and your device. For a JPG, WebP, or AVIF, our browser tool does it in one drag. For a HEIC photo, or when you are offline, your operating system already has a converter built in. Here is every method, shortest first.
Convert JPG, WebP, or AVIF in the browser
To convert JPG to PNG, or a WebP or AVIF file the same way, drop it on the PNG compressor, set the output format to PNG, and download the result. No install, and no signup for files up to 25 MB, in batches up to 30 images at once, so a folder of icon exports or product shots converts together in one pass. A free account raises that to 100 images a month with a usage dashboard, and Pro is 12 dollars a month flat for 10,000 images, 50 MB files, and batches of 100.
The same drag handles a WebP file: to convert WebP to PNG, choose PNG on output and download. The PNG comes out at whatever detail the source already had, because converting re-encodes the pixels losslessly rather than adding or removing any. EXIF metadata, the hidden camera and GPS data a phone writes into a photo, gets stripped automatically as the file is rewritten. Because a PNG can be heavy, the same tool lets you compress the PNG in the same pass, so a screenshot or logo comes out lean rather than bloated, without a second upload.
Convert an image to PNG on Windows with Paint
Windows converts to PNG with nothing to download, using Paint. Open the image in Paint, go to File, then Save as, choose PNG picture from the list, name it, and save. Paint reads JPG, BMP, TIFF, and GIF, which covers most of what you will meet on a PC. It does not read HEIC on older Windows builds, so an iPhone photo still needs the route below.
One caveat if your source is an animated GIF: converting to PNG keeps a single frame only, since PNG does not store animation. Keep the GIF, or convert to WebP, if the motion matters.
Convert an image to PNG on a Mac with Preview and Finder
macOS gives you two built-in routes. In Preview, open the image, choose File, then Export, set the Format menu to PNG, and Save (Business Insider). For a whole batch, select the files in Finder, right-click, choose Quick Actions, then Convert Image, and pick PNG. Uncheck Preserve Metadata in that dialog if you want EXIF stripped as you convert.
Convert HEIC to PNG on iPhone, iPad, and in bulk
HEIC is the format an iPhone saves photos in, and this tool does not read it yet, so convert HEIC to PNG with the tools already on the device. On an iPhone or iPad, open the Files app, select the photo, and use the Convert Image quick action, choosing PNG. For a repeatable version, a Shortcut chaining Select Photos, then Convert Image set to PNG, then Save to Photo Album handles a full album in one tap.
On Windows or from a command line, ImageMagick's convert photo.heic photo.png handles a single file, and libheif's heif-convert input.heic output.png is the faster route for a folder in bulk. Watch one thing on any HEIC route: some converters flatten the image and drop transparency, which matters only if your source had an alpha channel to begin with, and a standard iPhone photo does not.
Convert to PNG in Photoshop and design tools
In Photoshop, choose File, then Save a Copy, or Save As on older versions, pick PNG from the format menu, and confirm the options dialog. Design tools follow the same idea: in Canva you export a PNG from Share, then Download, then PNG. Almost any editor that opens your file can write PNG, because it is one of the most universally supported image formats there is.
What converting to PNG actually changes
Converting to PNG changes the container, not the picture inside it. You gain lossless storage and support for transparency, and you lose nothing to a fresh round of lossy compression. What it does not do is where people get caught: it does not create transparency, and it does not repair a source that is already damaged.
| What converting to PNG gives you | What it does not do |
|---|---|
| Lossless storage from this point on | Recover detail a JPEG already discarded |
| A format that supports transparency | Make an existing background transparent |
| Exact pixel-for-pixel reproduction | Make a photo's file size smaller |
| EXIF stripped by our browser tool | Change the image's pixel resolution |
It enables transparency, it does not create it
Converting a JPG to PNG puts the pixels into a format that supports an alpha channel, which is full per-pixel transparency. It does not make anything in the image transparent. A JPG with a white background becomes a PNG with the exact same white background, because JPEG never stored a transparency mask that could carry over (DEV Community). Getting a real transparent background is a separate two-step job, covered further down.
It does not undo JPEG's own compression
A JPEG that has already lost detail carries that loss permanently in its pixels. Converting it to PNG locks in whatever blur, blockiness, or color banding is already there and preserves it exactly, because PNG's lossless guarantee only covers what happens after the file becomes a PNG. It cannot look backward and rebuild anything JPEG threw away. If the image needs to look sharper, that fix has to happen before conversion, in the original file or a higher-quality re-export, never after.
How much bigger does a PNG get?
For photos, a lot bigger. PNG stores every pixel exactly, so the photographic noise that JPEG and WebP quietly throw away stays in the file, and a photographic PNG typically runs five to ten times larger than the same photo saved as a JPEG. For flat graphics, logos, and screenshots, PNG is competitive or better, which is the job it was built for (MDN).
| Same 497 KB photo, converted | File size | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Original JPG | 497 KB | Measured, the homepage demo file |
| Converted to WebP, quality 80 | 214 KB | Measured, 56.9 percent smaller |
| Converted to PNG, lossless | 2 to 4 MB | Five to ten times larger |
Read that top to bottom. The same photo that WebP takes down to 214 KB balloons to somewhere between 2 and 4 MB as a PNG, because you asked it to keep every last pixel of sensor noise. That is not a converter problem, it is what lossless means. The format guidance is blunt about it: use PNG when you need precise reproduction or transparency, and reach for a lossy format like JPEG or WebP for photographs.
Why photos and graphics behave so differently
PNG compresses by finding runs and repeated patterns of identical pixels, which is why a logo with big flat areas of one color shrinks beautifully. A photograph has almost no identical neighboring pixels, only smooth gradients and noise, so PNG has nothing to squeeze and stores it all (Wikipedia). PNG supports palette, grayscale, and full truecolor with an alpha channel at up to 16 bits per channel, so the format itself is not the limit. The content is.
How do you get a transparent PNG?
In two steps, not one. First convert or save the image as PNG so it can physically hold transparency, then remove the background as its own separate editing step, then save again as PNG. Conversion by itself never removes a background, no matter how the converter is labeled.
That second step needs a background remover, which is a different kind of tool from a format converter. Our tool converts and compresses PNGs; it does not cut out backgrounds. Editors that do remove a subject write their result as a PNG precisely because PNG is the format that can store the see-through area. So the order is always the same: get a PNG first, then do the cutout, then keep it as a PNG so the transparency survives.
A concrete case makes this clear. Say you have a company logo saved as a JPG on a white background and you need it on a colored banner. Converting the JPG to PNG gives you a PNG that still has the white box behind the logo.
Only after you erase that white area in an editor, then save as PNG, do you get a logo that drops cleanly onto any background. The conversion made the transparency possible; the erasing made it real.
When should you not convert to PNG?
Skip PNG for any photograph headed to a screen. If the destination does not need transparency or exact reproduction, converting to PNG only makes the file heavier for no visible gain, often by a factor of five to ten.
Keep a photo as JPEG, or convert it to WebP, which runs 25 to 35 percent smaller than an equivalent JPEG at the same visual quality. Save PNG for the work it is good at: logos, icons, screenshots, diagrams with text, and anything that needs a genuinely transparent area. If your actual goal is a smaller photo, converting to PNG is the wrong direction entirely, and compressing as JPEG or WebP is the right one.
I built the tool to convert between JPG, PNG, WebP, and AVIF, and I still tell people to keep photos out of PNG. The format is made for graphics, and pushing a photograph into it only inflates the file for a difference no screen will ever show.
One distinction is worth knowing when PNG genuinely is the target. PNG-8 uses a palette of up to 256 colors and stays small, which suits flat logos and simple icons, while PNG-24 keeps full color and is what you want for screenshots or anything with gradients. Most tools pick for you, but if a converter offers the choice, match it to the content rather than defaulting to the largest option.
Troubleshooting a PNG conversion
Most PNG conversion problems trace to three causes: the file came out huge, the transparency vanished, or a rename was mistaken for a conversion. Each has a quick fix.
The converted PNG is enormous
This is expected when the source is a photo. A photographic PNG is five to ten times the size of the JPEG, because it stores noise the lossy format discarded. If you do not specifically need transparency or exact detail, do not convert the photo to PNG at all. Compress it as JPEG or WebP and it will be a fraction of the size with no visible difference.
The transparency disappeared after a HEIC conversion
Some HEIC to PNG converters flatten the image onto a solid background and discard the alpha channel entirely (Microsoft Tech Community). Choose a converter or export path that preserves transparency, and check that your source actually had a transparent area, since a standard iPhone photo has none to lose.
Renaming a file to .png did nothing
Changing the extension from .jpg to .png does not convert anything. The bytes inside stay a JPEG, so you get a mislabeled file that most software either refuses to open or renders wrong. Convert with a real tool that rewrites the pixel data into PNG, then rename afterward if you still need to.