PNG to AVIF Converter
PNG to AVIF is a win for photographic PNGs
PNGs that are really photos — exports from an editor, screenshots of camera photos, high-resolution scans — compress enormously going to AVIF. PNG's lossless compression is good at flat color, bad at photographic noise, so these files were carrying a lot of waste.
- Photo PNG (1080p)
- 3-10 MB
- AVIF (lossy ~75-85)
- 80-350 KB
- Typical reduction
- 5-10×
UI screenshots with flat colors and crisp text compress well too, but the gap is smaller. PNG already handles that content class efficiently; AVIF gives you alpha and modest savings but not a dramatic shift.
What AVIF quality means after a PNG source
AVIF quality is encoder-specific and does not line up 1:1 with JPEG. Think of lossy AVIF as trading frequency detail for bytes the way other modern codecs do, but with a steeper efficiency curve on photos. I start at 80 on photo-like PNGs and only go lower when I've checked skies and skin at 100% zoom.
- 75-85: default band for web delivery from photographic PNGs.
- 85-95: hero imagery, large crops, or anything headed for print-adjacent reuse.
- Lossless AVIF: UI, logos, and screenshots when you want PNG fidelity with a smaller container — at the cost of slower encodes.
Lossy vs lossless AVIF, and when each pays off
Lossless AVIF exists, and on UI or text-heavy PNGs it often beats the source file on size. The catch is encode speed — it's slow enough that batching hundreds of images becomes noticeable. For photographic PNGs, lossy AVIF at quality 75-85 is the right default; the losslessness of the PNG source was never doing anything for the final viewer.
Serve with a PNG or JPG fallback in a `<picture>` tag if your audience includes older Safari or email clients. Otherwise AVIF direct is fine in 2026 and the bandwidth savings compound every pageview.
When to keep PNG instead of AVIF
- Archival masters: keep lossless sources until the final export.
- Decode/encode constraints: AVIF encodes slower than WebP or JPG; huge batches may need a lighter codec.
- Compatibility-only targets: email bodies, some LMS uploads, and legacy viewers — fall back to JPG or PNG.
PNG to AVIF questions, answered
Does PNG to AVIF reduce file size?
On photographic PNGs, yes — often 5-10× smaller at quality 75-85 with no visible loss at normal zoom. On flat UI PNGs the gain is smaller because PNG already compresses that content well.
What AVIF quality should I use for PNG?
For lossy AVIF from photo-like PNGs, 75-85 is a practical band; the scale is not the same as JPEG. Use higher values when the image will be re-edited or shown full-width. For text and UI sources, prefer lossless AVIF or keep PNG if encode time matters.
Does AVIF support transparency?
Yes. AVIF can carry alpha like PNG and WebP, so transparent PNGs can remain transparent in AVIF.
Is AVIF supported in all browsers?
Modern Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Safari 16.4+ decode AVIF. Older Safari, many email clients, and some enterprise tools do not. Use a picture element with PNG or JPG fallback for production sites.
When should I keep PNG instead of AVIF?
Keep PNG for masters, fastest batch encodes, or destinations that cannot decode AVIF. If encode time is critical at huge batch scale, WebP is often the lighter-weight middle ground.