PNG to WebP for transparent website graphics
You have a logo, an icon, a button or a product photo with a cut-out background saved as PNG. You want WebP versions of these graphics for your website or online shop.
Pixcon keeps the transparent areas when it converts PNG to WebP. The background color of your page then shows through those areas, without a white box around the graphic.
What the WebP file keeps and what changes
- Transparent areas
- Kept in the WebP file.
- Compression
- Always lossy. Pixcon does not create lossless WebP files.
- With "Optimize images" on
- Stronger compression for a smaller file, and metadata is not copied.
- With "Optimize images" off
- Higher quality and a larger file.
- Very large transparent images
- Scaled down proportionally to at most 30 megapixels before encoding.
- File name
- Kept with the .webp extension, so logo.png becomes logo.webp.
Because the WebP is lossy, keep the original PNG and start any later edits from the PNG.
Tips for clean logos and icons in WebP
- If the PNG is larger than it appears on your page, choose "Resize" and enter the display width in "Width:", up to 4096 px. Leave "Height:" at "Auto" and keep "Maintain Aspect Ratio" on, so the proportions stay the same.
- Check logos, icons and graphics with small text after the conversion. Compare the WebP with the original PNG, and if edges or letters look soft, convert the PNG again with "Optimize images" off.
- PNG to AVIF is another option that keeps transparency, and Pixcon saves AVIF with lossy compression as well.
- Photos without transparent areas are covered on the JPG to WebP page.
Questions about transparent WebP files
Does WebP keep transparency like PNG?
Yes. Pixcon keeps the transparent areas of the PNG in the WebP, so a logo or a cut-out product keeps its transparent background. Pixcon does not fill the background with white or any other color.
Is PNG to WebP conversion lossless on Pixcon?
No. Pixcon always encodes WebP with lossy compression, also when "Optimize images" is off. Turning the switch off gives a higher quality WebP that is closer to the PNG, but it is still not a lossless copy.
Will WebP make my website graphics smaller?
Not always, so compare both file sizes after converting. Pixcon encodes the WebP with lossy compression, which "Optimize images" makes stronger. If the PNG is still smaller, keep using the PNG on your website.
Is there a size limit when converting PNG to WebP?
Yes: each PNG can be up to 50 MB, and the WebP can be at most 16,383 px wide or high, so use "Resize" for larger images. A transparent PNG larger than 30 megapixels is scaled down proportionally before Pixcon saves the WebP.