Did your computer fail to open a JPG file? We explain what JPG files are and recommend software that we know can open or convert your JPG files.

About TXT Files. Our goal is to help you understand what a file with a *.txt suffix is and how to open it. The Plain Text file type, file format description, and Mac, Windows, Linux, Android, and iOS programs listed on this page have been individually researched and verified by the FileInfo team.

What is a JPG file?

The .jpg file extension is assigned to image files. Many photographs and Internet graphics are stored in the JPG file format.

What Programs Can Read Text Within Jpg Files For Mac

JPG files are commonly referred to as JPEG images. JPEG is the acronym for Joint Photographic Experts Group. Many bitmap images are saved in .jpg format in order to compress the files. This makes it easier to transfer or download the files and use them on the Web.

The JPG file format is based on a 24-bit color palette, however, these files tend to drop information when they are decompressed. The higher the rate of compression was when the JPG file was created, the more the quality of the image will be affected when the file is decompressed.

Software that will open, convert or fix JPG files

Try a universal file viewer

Try a universal file viewer like Free File Viewer. It can open over 200 different types of files - and most likely yours too. Download Free File Viewer here.

About File Extension JPG

File.org aims to be the go-to resource for file type- and related software information. We spend countless hours researching various file formats and software that can open, convert, create or otherwise work with those files.

If you have additional information about the JPG file format or software that uses files with the JPG suffix, please do get in touch - we would love hearing from you.

A file with the PNG file extension is a Portable Network Graphics file. The format uses lossless compression and is generally considered the replacement to the GIF image format.

However, unlike GIF, PNG files do not support animations. The very similar MNG (Multiple-image Network Graphics) format does, however, but has yet to gain the kind of popularity that GIF or PNG files have.

PNG files are often used to store graphics on websites. Some operating systems like macOS and Ubuntu store screenshots in the PNG format by default.

Another use for PNGs is when portions of the image need to be transparent, which can be helpful when making illustrations, designing a website, creating photography, etc. For example, if you have a logo you want placed over a photo, it's much easier to 'cut' the logo out, leaving transparent pixels around it, so that when it's placed over the other picture, that picture will show through the transparency.

How to Open a PNG File

The default photo viewer program in Windows is often used to open PNG files because it's included as part of a standard Windows installation, but there are many other ways to view one.

All web browsers (like Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, etc.) will automatically view PNG files that you open from the internet, which means you don't have to download every PNG file you want to look at online. You can also use the web browser to open PNG files from your computer, by using the Ctrl+O keyboard combination to browse for the file.

Most browsers also support drag-and-drop, so you might be able to just drag the PNG file into the browser to open it.

There are also several standalone file openers, graphic tools, and services that open PNG files. A few popular ones include XnView, IrfanView, FastStone Image Viewer, Google Drive, Eye of GNOME, and gThumb.

To edit PNG files, the XnView program just mentioned can be used, as well as the Microsoft Windows included graphics program called Paint, the Windows 10 Paint 3D tool, the popular GIMP utility, and the very popular (and very not free) Adobe Photoshop.

Considering the number of programs that open PNG files, and that you very likely have at least two installed right now, there's a very real chance that the one that's set to open them by default (i.e. when you double-click or double-tap on one) isn't the one you'd like to use.

If you find that to be the case, see my How to Change File Associations in Windows tutorial for detailed instructions on how to change that 'default' PNG program.

How to Convert a PNG File

Probably every single image file converter that you run across will be able to convert a PNG file to another format (like JPG, PDF, ICO, GIF, BMP, TIF, etc.). There are several options in our Free Image Converter Software Programs list, including some online PNG converters like FileZigZag and Zamzar.

Pngtosvg.com is a website that can be used if you want to convert a PNG to SVG.

Another option for converting a PNG file is to use one of the image viewers I've already mentioned. While they exist mainly as 'openers' of various image types, some of them support saving/exporting the open PNG file to a different image format.

When to Use PNG Files

PNG files are a great format to use but not necessarily in every situation. Sometimes a PNG can be way too large in size and not only use up unnecessary disk space or make it harder to email, but can also drastically slow down a web page if you're using one there. So before you convert all of your images to PNG (don't do that), there are some things to keep in mind.

Strictly thinking about PNG file sizes, you'll need to consider if the image quality benefits are good enough to sacrifice that space (or slow web page loading, etc.). Since a PNG file doesn't compress the image like other lossy formats like JPEG do, quality doesn't diminish as much when the image is in the PNG format.

JPEG files are useful when the image is low contrast, but PNGs are better when dealing with sharp contrast like when there are lines or text in the image, as well as large areas of solid color. Screenshots and illustrations, then, are best in PNG format while 'real' photos are best as JPEG/JPG.

You might also consider using the PNG format over JPEG when you're dealing with an image that needs to be edited over and over again. For example, since the JPEG format undergoes what's called generation loss, editing and saving the file again and again will result in a lower quality image over time. This isn't true for PNG since it uses lossless compression.

What Programs Can Read Text Within Jpg Files For Mac Free

More Help With PNG Files

To make the background transparent in a PNG, your options include automated tools like Clipping Magic or the free Background Burner tool, or nearly any image editing program.

For example, if you have Photoshop, place the image in its own layer, delete the background layer, and then use any tool (e.g., Eraser, Marquee, Lasso) to erase the portions of the image that should be transparent.