PNG is a lossless image format that preserves every pixel perfectly — the go-to choice for screenshots, logos, icons, and anything with sharp edges or transparency.
Safe format
Type Image
By PNG Development Group / W3C
MIMEimage/png
Drop any file to identify it
We read file headers, not extensions. Nothing gets uploaded.
PNG is a lossless image format that preserves every pixel perfectly — the go-to choice for screenshots, logos, icons, and anything with sharp edges or transparency. If JPG is a photograph, PNG is a screenshot. That's the mental model that will serve you well for the rest of your life. PNG was created in 1996 as a patent-free replacement for GIF, and it succeeded beyond anyone's expectations. The format uses lossless compression, meaning every single pixel survives the save — no artefacts, no generational decay, no surprises. It also supports transparency, which is why every logo, icon, and UI element on the web is a PNG. The tradeoff is file size: a PNG of the same photograph will be several times larger than a JPG, because preserving every pixel costs bytes. For text, sharp edges, diagrams, and anything with flat colour, PNG is the right choice. For photos, it's almost never worth it.
Technical details
Full Name
Portable Network Graphics
MIME Type
image/png
Developer
PNG Development Group / W3C
Magic Bytes
89 50 4E 47 0D 0A 1A 0A
Safety
.png is a known, safe format.
What opens it
Every image viewer
FREEAll
Convert with fwip
Convert .png files instantly in your browser. No upload, no signup, no subscription. Your files never leave your device.
Free in your browser. Batch processing & offline mode in the desktop bundle.
FAQ
When should I use PNG instead of JPG?
Use PNG when you need transparency, or when the image has text, sharp edges, or flat colours (logos, screenshots, icons). Use JPG for photographs.
Should I use PNG or JPG for photos?
JPG, almost always. PNG preserves every pixel but produces files 5-10x larger than JPG for photographic images. The quality difference is invisible to the naked eye. Save PNG for graphics, not photos.
Why are PNG files so large?
PNG uses lossless compression — it keeps every pixel intact, which means it can't discard visual information the way JPG does. A complex photograph as PNG might be 10MB where the same image as JPG would be 1MB with no visible difference.
How do I compress a PNG?
Use <a href="https://fwip.app/tools/compress-image/">fwip's image compressor</a> to reduce PNG file size without losing quality. It optimises the compression algorithm without discarding any pixel data. Runs in your browser, no upload needed.