Smallest format by image type
| Image type | Smallest | Runner-up | Safest fallback |
|---|---|---|---|
| Photo | AVIF | WebP (lossy) | JPEG |
| Photo with a transparent background | AVIF | Lossy WebP with transparency | PNG (much larger) |
| Screenshot, UI, chart | Lossless WebP | PNG-8 (256-color palette) | PNG |
| Logo, icon, simple illustration | SVG | Lossless WebP or PNG-8 | PNG |
| Illustration with gradients | AVIF or lossy WebP at quality 85–90 | PNG-8 with dithering | PNG |
| Animation | AVIF or a short MP4/WebM video | Animated WebP | GIF |
Typical numbers for one 1600 × 1200 photo at similar visual quality: about 280–360 KB as a JPEG at quality 80, 180–250 KB as WebP and 120–180 KB as AVIF. As a PNG, the same photo would weigh 2.5–4 MB. For a Full HD screenshot, a 150–500 KB PNG typically shrinks by about a quarter as lossless WebP, in line with Google's figure of 26%.
Why is AVIF the smallest for photos, and why not always use it?
AVIF is built on the AV1 video codec, with larger and more flexible blocks, more prediction modes and better entropy coding than WebP's older VP8 base, so it typically squeezes another 20–30% out of a photo compared with WebP. The costs: encoding is much slower, especially for large images, and support outside browsers is patchier. Every current major browser displays AVIF, but many desktop apps, upload forms, email clients and older phones do not. WebP has had near-universal browser support for years and encodes quickly. If your CMS or CDN serves AVIF automatically, take it; when you prepare files yourself, WebP is the dependable choice. The full comparison is in WebP vs AVIF, and WebP vs JPEG covers the more common switch.
What is the smallest format for screenshots and graphics?
A lossless format, because these images are built from flat colors and sharp edges that lossy formats handle badly. Lossless WebP is usually the smallest; Google measures it at about 26% smaller than PNG. A PNG reduced to a 256-color palette comes close and is accepted everywhere. JPEG is the worst option here: it is often no smaller than an optimized PNG, and it leaves halos around text. If a screenshot is mostly a large photo, lossy WebP at quality 85–90 can beat all of them. See why is my PNG file so large for shrinking PNGs that must stay PNG.
What is the smallest format for logos and icons?
SVG. A logo described as shapes and paths is usually 1–10 KB, stays sharp at every size and can be styled with CSS. It loses that advantage only when the artwork is very complex (thousands of paths, embedded photos, effects exported from a design tool), where a 2× PNG or lossless WebP can end up smaller. Where SVG is not accepted, as in many email clients and upload forms, use a PNG at twice the displayed size.
What is the smallest format for animations?
Not GIF. GIF is limited to 256 colors per frame and uses an old compression scheme, so animations come out large and grainy. Google measures animated GIFs converted to lossy WebP at 64% smaller, and 19% smaller as lossless WebP. Animated AVIF and short MP4 or WebM videos (muted, looping, autoplaying) are usually smaller still. Keep GIF only where nothing else plays, such as some email clients. See WebP vs GIF.
When should you keep JPG anyway?
When the destination demands it. A smaller file is only better if it is accepted and displayed.
- Upload forms for government, job and exam portals often accept only JPG or PNG.
- Email: JPEG and PNG display everywhere; WebP works in most clients, though Gmail converts it, and AVIF support is patchier. See images for email newsletters.
- Social and link previews: JPEG or PNG are the safest choice for Open Graph images.
- Print services and older software: many expect JPEG or TIFF.
- Files other people will edit: JPEG opens in every app.
In those cases, make the JPG as small as it can be: compress it at quality 75–85 with the JPG compressor, or type the maximum size the form allows. A 3 MB phone photo typically falls to about 2 MB at quality 80 alone, and to roughly 400–600 KB once it is also limited to 2000 px wide.
How do you get the smallest file in practice?
- Pick the format from the table above, for the image type and for where it is going.
- Resize to the largest size it will be displayed at, times 2 for high-density screens.
- Compress: quality 75–85 for photos, or set a target size in KB.
- For a website, convert JPG and PNG files to WebP with the WebP converter.
- Compare the result with the original at normal size before replacing it.