You convert a PNG to JPG. Instead of the clean image you expected, you get a photo with strange black patches or an entirely black image. What happened?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is one of the most common frustrations people run into when converting images \u2014 and once you understand why it happens, the solution is simple.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
PNG supports transparency \u2014 specifically, an “alpha channel” that defines which parts of the image are see-through. A logo on a transparent background, for example, has fully transparent pixels where you’d normally see white.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
JPG, on the other hand, does not support transparency. It has no concept of “see-through” pixels. Every pixel must have a colour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When a poorly-designed converter draws your transparent PNG onto a JPG canvas, it doesn’t fill the transparent areas with anything. The canvas defaults to black. Result: your transparent areas become black.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The correct approach is to fill the canvas with a background colour before drawing the PNG on top. White is almost always the right choice \u2014 it’s what you’d see if the image were placed on a white webpage or document.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Simple Image Converter does this automatically. Before drawing your PNG, we fill the canvas with white \u2014 so transparent areas become white in the output JPG, giving you a clean, professional result every time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sometimes you might want a different background colour \u2014 a grey background for a catalogue, or a brand colour for marketing materials. If you need custom backgrounds, you’ll want an image editor. But for the vast majority of use cases \u2014 websites, documents, emails \u2014 white is exactly right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some images have semi-transparent pixels \u2014 think of a soft drop shadow, or a blurred edge. When converted to JPG:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This handles soft edges gracefully without any harsh artefacts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If transparency is important to you \u2014 for a logo you’ll use on different coloured backgrounds, for example \u2014 you should keep the PNG. Converting to JPG permanently discards the transparency information. You cannot recover it later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Convert to JPG when: file size matters more than transparency (e.g., for web photos, email attachments, or documents where you know the background will be white).<\/p>\n\n\n\n