Pick the wrong image format and your page loads like it’s on hotel WiFi. Pick the right one and nobody notices, which is the point. AVIF and WEBP have matured enough that ignoring them costs you real kilobytes on every page load.

Web Image Formats

WEBP - The Safe Default

✅ Pros:

  • 25-35% smaller than JPEG
  • Supports transparency
  • Works in 95%+ of browsers
  • Solid compression without visible artifacts

❌ Cons:

  • IE doesn’t support it (but who’s counting)
  • Bigger than AVIF
  • Photoshop and Figma support it now, but some older tools still can’t open it

Best for: Website images, e-commerce product photos, social media graphics

AVIF - Smaller Files, More Patience

✅ Pros:

  • 50% smaller than JPEG at comparable quality
  • HDR and wide color gamut support
  • Browser support at 85%+ and climbing

❌ Cons:

  • Encoding is noticeably slow. You’ll feel it on large batches.
  • Tool support is still catching up
  • Older browsers show nothing

Best for: Image-heavy sites where every kilobyte matters, progressive web apps

JPEG - The Cockroach

✅ Pros:

  • Opens everywhere. Your printer, your grandma’s laptop, a ten-year-old Android phone.
  • Small enough for photos
  • Progressive loading

❌ Cons:

  • No transparency
  • Lossy only. Each re-save degrades quality like a photocopy of a photocopy.
  • Bigger than WEBP and AVIF

Best for: Email attachments, legacy systems, anywhere you need zero compatibility risk

TIFF - Professional Standard

TIFF is what print shops expect and what photographers archive in. Lossless compression, layer support, and files large enough to fill a hard drive if you’re not careful.

Best for: Print production, professional photography, long-term archival

RAW - Maximum Quality

RAW formats (CR2, NEF, ARW, DNG) are the unprocessed sensor dump from your camera. Huge files, but you can push exposure and white balance around in post without the image falling apart.

Best for: Professional photography, heavy post-processing

Format selection guide

Quick decision tree

📱 For Websites & Apps Use WEBP for broad compatibility, AVIF for cutting-edge performance, JPEG as fallback

🖨️ For Print Use TIFF or high-quality JPEG (95%+), PNG for graphics with transparency

📸 For Photography Shoot in RAW, edit in TIFF, deliver in WEBP/JPEG depending on use case

Converting between formats

If you’re juggling formats regularly, Picmal handles all of the above natively on macOS. Drag files in, pick your output format, done. Supports 20+ formats including AVIF and WEBP.