# changing .png files to .jpeg

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-png-files-to-jpeg/438085>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [February 18, 2008, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-png-files-to-jpeg/438085 "2008-02-18T10:58:38Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Hello\_Newman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Hello\_Newman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Newman)\
**Post date:** [February 18, 2008, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-png-files-to-jpeg/438085/1 "2008-02-18T10:58:38Z")

</div>

I see that many of the pictures I scanned are now .png files. Is there a way to change these into .jpeg files without spending a great deal of time on it? Can I do this as a mass change, rather than one file at a time? (My Webshots software does not recognize the .png format.)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\
**Post date:** [February 18, 2008, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-png-files-to-jpeg/438085/2 "2008-02-18T11:35:08Z")

</div>

[Irfanview](http://www.irfanview.com/) is a freeware image viewing and conversion utility - and it’s a really good one. It will do batch conversions.

Be aware though, that you are converting from a lossless format into a ‘lossy’ one - for most of your images, this probably won’t make a noticeable difference, but for some, it might make them look horrible.

Keep a backup copy of the original images - if any don’t look so good after conversion, replace them with PNGs converted to BMP instead of JPEG.

But… software that doesn’t recognise PNG? Yikes.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\
**Post date:** [February 18, 2008, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-png-files-to-jpeg/438085/3 "2008-02-18T11:40:58Z")

</div>

First, you’re probably best to check the settings you have on your scanning software. It seems odd that it would scan in as a png–particularly if it didn’t used to.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Hello\_Newman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Hello\_Newman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Newman)\
**Post date:** [February 18, 2008, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-png-files-to-jpeg/438085/4 "2008-02-18T12:01:35Z")

</div>

[QUOTE=Sage Rat]  
First, you’re probably best to check the settings you have on your scanning software. It seems odd that it would scan in as a png–particularly if it didn’t used to.  
[/QUOTE]

My daughter was scanning photo’s for a PowerPoint presentation for her sister’s Bat Mitavah celebration. I’m not sure what she did or how she did it.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Hello\_Newman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Hello\_Newman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Newman)\
**Post date:** [February 18, 2008, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-png-files-to-jpeg/438085/5 "2008-02-18T12:08:55Z")

</div>

Thanks - I used the IfanView and it converted them perfectly.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\
**Post date:** [February 18, 2008, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-png-files-to-jpeg/438085/6 "2008-02-18T12:09:04Z")

</div>

IMO, any piece of software which doesn’t recognize .png is not worth having. It’s definitely the superior format.

ETA: But I’m glad to hear it worked out OK anyway!