Choose the right image format

The file4edit format guide compares eight formats — WebP, JPEG, PNG, AVIF, GIF, BMP, ICO and PDF — and says what each one is for, what it costs and what to avoid it for. The short answer is to use WebP unless something stops you: it is roughly 25 to 35 percent smaller than JPEG at matching quality, it keeps transparency, and every browser released since 2020 supports it. Each card is tagged lossy or lossless with transparency and animation marked, and the page also names the formats file4edit can open but not write.

How it works

  1. Find the format you were offered The page has one card per everyday format — WebP, JPEG, PNG, AVIF, GIF, BMP, ICO and PDF — each tagged lossy or lossless, with chips for transparency and animation.
  2. Read the recommendation Each card leads with what the format is for, then the reasoning behind it, then an 'avoid for' line naming the case where it is the wrong choice.
  3. Check what your own browser can write The table on the front page probes your browser's encoders as the page loads. AVIF is the one that varies: Chromium browsers can write it, Firefox and Safari can only display it.
  4. Convert Open the convert tool, choose the format you settled on, and the file is re-encoded in the tab with nothing uploaded.

Questions

Which image format should I use for a website?
WebP, unless something specific stops you. It is roughly 25 to 35 percent smaller than JPEG at matching quality, it keeps transparency the way PNG does, and every browser released since 2020 supports it. Use PNG for screenshots, logos and line art where you need lossless, and JPEG when the file has to open in older desktop software.
Is AVIF better than WebP?
AVIF produces smaller files — frequently about half the size of WebP — but it is slow to encode and, inside a browser, only Chromium can write it. Firefox and Safari can display AVIF and cannot create it, so file4edit disables the option there and shows the reason rather than quietly handing back a different format.
Can file4edit convert TIFF or HEIC files?
It can open them but not write them. SVG, TIFF and HEIC are read-only in file4edit: you can convert one into PNG, WebP or another writable format, but you cannot save back to it. HEIC decoding also depends on the browser — Safari does it natively and most others do not.

Every tool