PDF, JPG or PNG: Which File Format Should You Upload?

What each format is good at

JPG (also written JPEG) is made for photographs. It keeps files small by dropping detail the eye hardly notices. It is the usual choice for a passport photo or a single picture of a document, but every time a JPG is edited and saved again a little quality is lost.

PNG keeps every pixel exactly. It is ideal for screenshots, logos, signatures with a transparent background and images with sharp text, but a photo saved as PNG is usually much larger than the same photo as JPG.

PDF is a document container. It can hold one page or hundreds, keeps them in order, prints at the right paper size and is what most offices mean by “upload your documents”.

A simple rule

1. Passport or profile photo: JPG, unless the form says otherwise.
2. Several pages that belong together (a contract, a degree with its transcript, both sides of a card): one PDF.
3. Signature or stamp to place on documents: PNG with a transparent background.
4. Screenshot of a payment or confirmation: PNG, or PDF if the portal asks for documents only.

Converting between them

Use JPG to PDF to combine photos into one PDF in the order you choose, and PDF to JPG when a portal accepts only images. iPhone photos in HEIC format can be turned into JPG with the HEIC converter first. All conversions run in your browser, so the files stay on your device.