Optimizing PNG vs JPG: Tips and Tools for WordPress

A slow WordPress site is usually an image problem. Not a hosting problem, not a plugin problem, an image problem. And more often than not, it comes down to two things: using the wrong format and skipping compression entirely. This post covers when to use PNG vs JPG, how WordPress handles images under the hood, and which tools and plugins can automate most of the optimization work for you. PNG vs JPG — When to Use Which JPG uses lossy compression. It discards some image data during compression, but at quality levels around 80-85, the difference is invisible to the human eye for most photographs. File sizes drop dramatically. This is the right format for any photographic content, blog headers, team photos, product shots, background images. PNG is lossless. Nothing gets thrown away, which means the file is larger but pixel-perfect. Use it when you need transparency, or when the image contains sharp edges like text, logos, icons, or UI screenshots. JPG compression tends to create visible a