Lossless or lossy: what "without losing quality" really means
PNG is lossless: every pixel is stored exactly. WebP can work in two ways. Lossless WebP keeps every pixel too, and lossy WebP throws away detail the eye barely sees, which gives much smaller files.
Our PNG to WebP converter makes lossy WebP at the Quality you choose. At high settings the difference from the PNG is practically invisible, while the file is still much smaller. So in practice "without losing quality" means: without any loss you can see.
Step by step
- Open the PNG to WebP converter and drop in one PNG or many.
- Click Options on a file to set Quality and Resize (the settings are explained below).
- Click Convert, check the new file size in the list, and download the WebP files one by one or all together as a ZIP.
The right Quality for each kind of image
- Logos, icons, screenshots and anything with text: Quality 85 to 95. Sharp edges and small letters show compression first, so give them room.
- Illustrations and flat graphics: Quality 80 to 90.
- Photos that were saved as PNG: Quality 70 to 80. Photos hide compression well, and this is where WebP saves the most, often 80 percent or more compared with the PNG.
When in doubt, convert at 90, open the PNG and WebP side by side at 100 percent zoom and compare. If you cannot see a difference, try 80.
Resize first: the biggest saving of all
A 4000 pixel wide PNG shown in an 800 pixel wide column wastes most of its bytes. Choose Max 1920px for full-width images, or Max 1280px or Max 800px for images inside an article. Images are never enlarged, only made smaller when they are bigger than the size you pick.
Transparency is kept
WebP supports transparent and semi-transparent pixels, so logos and cut-out product photos keep their transparent background and can sit on any colour, just like the PNG.
When to keep the PNG
- As your master copy for future editing. Always convert from the original PNG, not from a WebP you made earlier.
- For print shops and older desktop software, which do not always open WebP.
- When the PNG is already tiny, for example a simple icon of a few kilobytes. If the WebP is not smaller, keep the PNG.
If you need to go back, the WebP to PNG converter turns a WebP into a PNG again. If you would rather keep PNG but make it smaller, compress the PNG instead.