Starting From Pristine Pixels: Why PNG Is the Best AVIF Source

When I set up a new media pipeline for a content site, the photographer delivered everything as PNG — lossless exports from Lightroom, no JPG compression in the chain. Instead of doing PNG → JPG → AVIF (the old approach), we went directly PNG → AVIF. The output quality was noticeably cleaner than anything we'd gotten from the JPG route. No inherited ringing, no double-compression artifacts. If you have PNG masters, this is the cleanest path to a modern delivery format.

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Why the source format matters more than people realize

Most image format conversions start from a JPG — the most common format, the one that's already been compressed once. When you encode a JPG to AVIF, the AVIF encoder works with pixels that already carry JPG artifacts. It inherits someone else's earlier compression decisions. PNG is different. It's lossless. The pixels it hands to the AVIF encoder are pristine — no pre-existing noise, no ringing, no blockiness. AVIF can make its own decisions from first principles. The result is consistently better than what you get from a JPG source.

Plomz PNG to AVIF converter with lossless PNG photography exports loaded for conversion — PNG masters converted directly to AVIF — no intermediate JPG step means no inherited compression artifacts in the final file.

The content site pipeline — what we changed and why

The old pipeline was: photographer delivers RAW → editor exports as JPG → JPG uploaded to CMS → CMS serves JPG. We'd optimized the JPG quality settings, we'd tuned the CMS compression on top of that. We were compressing twice, and the second compression was working with already-degraded pixels.

The new pipeline: photographer delivers RAW → editor exports as PNG → PNG converted to AVIF → AVIF served by CMS. One compression step. The AVIF encoder works from lossless source data and makes one set of decisions about what to keep and what to discard. The output files are around 70% smaller than the JPGs they replaced, with no visible quality difference at normal screen sizes — and cleaner fine detail when zoomed.

The size difference between PNG and AVIF is significant

PNG is lossless. AVIF (in lossy mode) is extremely efficient. The gap is large:

PNG photo from a DSLR: Often 8–25MB for a full-resolution lossless export. AVIF equivalent at quality 65: typically under 500KB. That's a 20–50× reduction for content that looks identical on screen.
PNG screenshot of a web page: Often 500KB–2MB. AVIF equivalent: typically 40–150KB with quality that's visually indistinguishable at screen resolution.
PNG product photo at web resolution: Often 500KB–1.5MB. AVIF equivalent: 80–250KB.

For logos and flat-color icons, the gains are smaller because PNG's lossless compression is already very efficient on simple graphics. Test before converting icon sets — PNG may win.

Transparency works — with a caveat to check

AVIF supports alpha transparency. Transparent PNGs can convert to transparent AVIF files that composite correctly in browsers. For most transparent web assets — logos, product cutouts, overlay graphics — the conversion works as expected.

The caveat: for very simple transparent graphics with sharp 1-pixel edges (like a crisp icon), AVIF's lossy compression can soften those edges in ways PNG doesn't. Compare the output before switching transparent UI assets to AVIF — for icons and precise graphics, PNG may still produce a better visual result at a competitive file size.

When to keep PNG and not use AVIF

Editing and design masters: PNG stays as the source. AVIF is a delivery format — don't use it as a working format you'll re-edit.
Print: Print services don't use AVIF. PNG or TIFF for print.
Email: AVIF is not supported in email clients. Use JPG or PNG for email assets.
Sharing with unknown recipients: If you don't know what software the recipient uses, PNG is safer. AVIF support outside browsers is still inconsistent.

Files processed in temporary storage — deleted on completion

Your PNGs are uploaded over HTTPS and processed server-side in temporary storage. Files are deleted automatically when the conversion finishes. No account needed, no data retained.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much smaller will AVIF be compared to my PNG?

For photographic PNGs, often 80–95% smaller. For flat graphics and icons, less — sometimes 30–50%. The lossless nature of PNG means AVIF has a lot of room to work with on complex images.

Will I see quality differences at normal viewing size?

At quality 60–80, differences from the PNG original are typically not visible at normal screen size. Under extreme zoom or for very fine 1-pixel UI detail, minor softening may be visible.

Does AVIF support transparency?

Yes. AVIF supports an alpha channel. Transparent PNGs can convert to transparent AVIF files that work in modern browsers.

Is AVIF supported by all browsers?

Chrome (85+), Firefox (93+), Safari (16.4+), and Edge (121+) support AVIF. For users on older browsers, serve a WebP or PNG fallback using the HTML <picture> element.