PNG → WebP
Convert PNG to WebP
PNG files are often enormous, and on a website that cost is paid by every visitor. WebP keeps the transparency and cuts the weight dramatically.
Convert your files
How it works
Why the saving is so large here
PNG is lossless: it stores every pixel exactly, which is the right thing for an archive and the wrong thing for a web page carrying photographs. WebP is allowed to approximate, so the drop in file size going from PNG to WebP is usually far larger than the drop going from JPG to WebP — often several times smaller rather than a third.
Transparency comes through. WebP carries an alpha channel, so a logo or an image with a cut-out background does not lose it in the conversion, which is the usual worry when leaving PNG.
Keep the PNG
This conversion is one-way in the sense that matters: the exactness PNG was storing is gone once WebP has approximated it. Converting back would produce a PNG of the approximation, not of the original. Keep the PNG as your master and treat the WebP as the copy you publish.
When PNG is still right
Screenshots of text, diagrams with hard edges, logos and flat-colour graphics are better left alone. Lossy compression is unkind to sharp edges and fine lettering, and those images are the ones PNG already stores efficiently — so there is little to win. Converting them can even produce a larger file than the PNG you started with, which is worth checking on one image before you convert a folder of them.
Questions
Is the transparency preserved?
Yes. WebP supports an alpha channel, so a transparent background survives the conversion. This is the usual reason people hesitate to leave PNG, and it is not a problem here.
How much smaller are the files?
For photographs, dramatically — often more than ten times smaller, because PNG was storing every pixel exactly. For flat-colour graphics, logos and diagrams, expect little or nothing, and be ready for the WebP to come out *larger* than the PNG: those are exactly the images PNG compresses well already. Convert one and compare the two file sizes before doing a folder.
Should I delete the original PNG?
No. WebP approximates what the PNG stored exactly, and converting back would only reproduce the approximation. Keep the PNG as the master and publish the WebP.
Is anything uploaded?
No. Your browser already reads PNG and writes WebP, so the whole conversion happens on your device with no server involved.