AVIF to PNG or AVIF to JPG?
Both make an AVIF usable, but they serve different needs. Ask yourself two questions: does the image need a transparent background, and will you edit it again later? If either answer is yes, pick PNG.
| Choose | When |
|---|---|
| PNG | The image has transparency, contains text or sharp graphics, or you plan to edit it |
| JPG | It is a photo you want to share, email or upload with a small file size |
For photos with no transparency, AVIF to JPG gives a much smaller file.
Why AVIF files are hard to open
AVIF is built on the AV1 video codec and became popular on websites only in recent years. Browsers adopted it fast because it saves bandwidth. Desktop software has been slower.
You may see a blank thumbnail, an error message or a prompt to install an extension. Converting to PNG skips all of that. You get a file that works the same in an old version of an image editor as in the newest one.
Designers run into this a lot. You collect a client logo or an illustration from a live website, drop it into a presentation, and the slide shows an empty box. A PNG copy fixes it in seconds and keeps any transparency the artwork had.
What to expect from the PNG
- Larger files: AVIF is extremely compact, so the PNG is often many times bigger. That is normal.
- Same look: the PNG shows exactly what the AVIF decoded to, without adding or removing detail.
- Clean sharing: metadata such as GPS location is not copied into the PNG.
- Still images only: animated AVIF is rare, and only the first frame would be converted.
If you need a smaller PNG for the web, try Compress PNG. To trim or reframe it, use Crop Image.
