The lossless, transparency-friendly format that never throws away a pixel — and the one Filemorph's background removal always outputs.
PNG (Portable Network Graphics) is a lossless raster format built in the mid-1990s specifically to replace GIF for everyday web images while adding proper transparency support. Because PNG compression never discards image data the way JPEG's does, editing and re-saving a PNG repeatedly does not degrade it, which makes it the safer choice for screenshots, graphics with sharp text or edges, and anything that will be edited more than once. Its alpha-channel transparency is the other reason PNG stays essential: a logo, an icon, or a cutout subject saved as PNG can sit on top of any background without a visible box around it, something a JPEG cannot do at all. The tradeoff is size — a PNG of an ordinary photograph is typically much larger than the same photo saved as JPEG, since lossless compression cannot shrink continuous-tone detail the way lossy compression can. PNG remains the default output for screenshots, app icons, and any image that needs a transparent background, while photographs generally move to JPEG or HEIC once transparency is no longer needed.
Every phone, tablet, computer, and web browser opens PNG natively — it is one of the most universally supported image formats that exists. The only real limitation is size: a photo-heavy PNG can be too large for some upload forms with strict file-size limits.
PNG's lossless detail and transparency make it larger than necessary once a background is opaque and the image is just a normal photo. Converting to JPEG on-device shrinks a screenshot-heavy camera roll down for sharing or storage without the extra step of an upload.
Filemorph can convert PNG to JPG on-device — a much smaller file once the image doesn't need lossless detail or transparency.
Filemorph converts .png files entirely on-device on iPhone, iPad and Mac — no upload, no account, and it works in Airplane Mode.
Relevant operations in Filemorph:
Use PNG for screenshots, logos, graphics with sharp text or edges, or anything that needs a transparent background — its lossless compression keeps those sharp. Use JPEG for ordinary photographs, where PNG's file size advantage disappears and its lossless detail goes mostly unnoticed.
Cutting a subject out of its background leaves transparent pixels where the background used to be, and PNG is the common format that can actually store that transparency — a JPEG would fill the gap with a solid color instead.
Yes. PNG conversion runs entirely on the iPhone, iPad, or Mac — nothing is sent to a server, the operation works in Airplane Mode, and PNG conversions are part of Filemorph's free tier.