How to Convert PNG to AVIF: Smaller Files, Same Quality

PNG files are great for quality. They keep every pixel perfect. But that perfection comes at a cost: file size.

A single PNG screenshot can easily hit 1-2 MB. A transparent logo might be 200 KB. Multiply that across a whole website and your pages crawl.

AVIF solves this. It matches PNG's quality at a fraction of the size. And yes, it supports transparency too. Here's everything you need to know about switching from PNG to AVIF.

Why Are PNG Files So Large?

PNG uses lossless compression. That means it saves every single pixel exactly as it is. Nothing gets thrown away. Nothing gets approximated. The result is a perfect copy of your original image.

This is fantastic for quality. But it's terrible for file size.

A photo saved as PNG can be 5-10 times larger than the same photo saved as JPG. Even simple graphics like charts and diagrams can be surprisingly heavy in PNG format.

The issue gets worse with complex images. A screenshot of a web page with gradients, shadows, and photos might be 3 MB as PNG. That same image as AVIF can be 200-400 KB. That's an 85-90% reduction.

Does AVIF Support Transparency Like PNG?

Yes. This is one of the biggest reasons to consider AVIF as a PNG replacement.

AVIF supports full alpha channel transparency, just like PNG. You can have fully transparent areas, partially transparent areas, and smooth edges that blend into any background.

The difference is file size. A transparent logo that's 150 KB as PNG might be 30-50 KB as AVIF. A transparent product photo that's 800 KB as PNG drops to 150-200 KB as AVIF. You keep the transparency and cut the file size by 70% or more.

This makes AVIF ideal for:

Logos on websites. Smaller files mean faster loading header graphics.
Product photos with cutout backgrounds. E-commerce sites with hundreds of product images save serious bandwidth.
UI elements and icons. Buttons, badges, and overlays load faster.
Stickers and overlays. Any graphic meant to sit on top of other content.

When Does PNG to AVIF Conversion Make Sense?

Not every PNG needs to become an AVIF. Here's when the switch pays off.

Web images. This is the biggest win. Any PNG displayed on a website should be AVIF (or at least WebP). The file size savings directly improve page speed, Core Web Vitals, and search rankings.

App assets. Mobile and desktop apps that bundle PNG images can shrink their install size by converting to AVIF. Smaller apps download and install faster.

Batch image archives. If you store thousands of PNGs, converting them to AVIF can cut your storage costs in half.

When you should keep PNG:

Source files for editing. If you plan to open the image in Photoshop or Figma and edit it further, keep the PNG. AVIF support in design tools is still limited.

Screenshots for documentation. If your docs platform or wiki doesn't support AVIF, stick with PNG.

Images with text that must stay pixel-perfect. While AVIF handles text well at high quality, lossless PNG guarantees zero artifacts. For technical diagrams where every pixel matters, PNG is safer.

How Do You Convert PNG to AVIF Without Losing Transparency?

The good news is that any decent converter handles this automatically. When you convert a PNG with transparency to AVIF, the transparent areas stay transparent. No extra steps needed.

ConvertIMG preserves transparency when converting PNG to AVIF. Drop your transparent PNGs in, choose AVIF as the output, and download. The alpha channel carries over intact.

For quality settings, use higher values when your PNG has smooth gradients or fine details. A setting of 85-90% keeps transparent edges looking clean. For simple graphics with flat colors, you can go as low as 70% and still get great results.

One tip: if your PNG was originally created from a JPG (a common mistake), converting it to AVIF won't recover the quality that JPG already lost. You'll just get a smaller file with the same JPG artifacts baked in. Always convert from the highest quality source available.

What About Lossless AVIF?

AVIF actually supports lossless compression, just like PNG. If you truly need a perfect pixel-for-pixel copy, you can create lossless AVIF files.

Lossless AVIF files are typically 20-30% smaller than equivalent PNG files. That's not as dramatic as lossy AVIF (which saves 70-90%), but it's still a meaningful reduction with zero quality loss.

Use lossless AVIF when you need:

Archival copies that must be identical to the original
Source assets for further processing
Medical or scientific images where accuracy is critical

For web use, lossy AVIF at 80-90% quality is almost always the right call. The visual difference from lossless is invisible to the human eye, but the file size difference is massive.

How Does AVIF Compare to WebP for PNG Replacement?

Both AVIF and WebP can replace PNG for most web uses. Both support transparency. Both produce much smaller files. But AVIF has the edge.

AVIF files are typically 20-30% smaller than WebP at the same quality. For transparency-heavy images, the gap can be even bigger. AVIF also handles gradients and color transitions more cleanly than WebP, which sometimes shows banding at lower quality levels.

WebP has one advantage: broader software support. More image editors, CMS platforms, and tools can handle WebP today. AVIF support is growing fast but isn't quite as universal yet.

For web delivery, AVIF is the top choice with WebP as the fallback. For more details on choosing between all the major formats, see our complete image format guide.

Ready to Shrink Your PNG Files?

Stop serving heavy PNG files when you don't have to. ConvertIMG converts PNG to AVIF in seconds. Transparency is preserved. Quality stays high. File sizes drop dramatically. Try it free in your browser.