What are the differences between JPG and JPEG?

The differences between JPG and JPEG When it comes to working with image files on our computer, we have a large number of formats at our disposal, all of them with their advantages and disadvantages. Two of the most popular are the JPG and JPEG formats. In fact, they are the two most used. That is why the question that many users ask themselves is the following: Which is the best? What are the differences between JPG and JPEG?

You don’t have to be too observant to notice that the names of JPG and JPEG are very similar. The truth is that many people confuse them and come to think that they are the same. And they are not going wrong, since, in reality, both JPG and JPEG are two file extensions referring to the same digital image format. We explain it below:

A matter of nomenclature

JPEG is the acronym for Joint Photographic Experts Group , a technological group that created the format of the same name, which is widely used in digital cameras, on social networks and in other areas.

However, when this format was released, back in 1992, almost all computers ran Microsoft’s MS-DOS operating system. Since this system only supported three-letter file extensions, the JPEG extension had to be hopelessly abbreviated to JPG. And this is how it was later transmitted to the first versions of Windows.

On the other hand, the .jpeg extension did not cause any conflict on MacOS computers, which continued to use it without problem. In this way we come to the present day, in which both Windows and Apple devices recognize and use JPG and JPEG files almost indistinctly.

Therefore, it can be inferred from all this that the difference between the two formats is a mere matter of nomenclature. Nothing more than that.

The differences between JPG and JPEG

Convert JPG to JPEG and vice versa

Since the differences between JPG and JPEG are basically in form and not in substance, when using one format or another there are hardly any differences.

For example, when you want to perform a format conversion and convert an image from JPG to JPEG , you are in for a surprise: you don’t have to do anything! The same will happen when trying to do the operation in the other direction.

For the same reasons, any image editing program will open and treat files with a .jpeg extension exactly the same as those with a .jpg extension. You will regard them as equals, basically because they are.

JPG or JPEG: Which is better?

If we take into account that both JPG and JPEG are two different ways of naming the same type of files, the question of which is better “loses all meaning.

Five Free Photoshop Alternatives

Broadly speaking, it can be said that they are 24-bit raster images (image bitmaps), which are usually dedicated to the same uses and lose a certain percentage of quality when they are saved. These files save images formed in RGB (Red, Green, Blue) from which they can represent up to 16 million colors. There is no doubt that it is a format (or formats) with excellent colors and very suitable for use in photographs.

The indistinct use of JPG or JPEG is recommended by experts to display photos on the web without taking up too much space on our server. Something that is really practical. When saving the images, the less important information is discarded, making the file occupy between 50% and 75% less.

For this reason, both JPG and JPEG are considered lossy compression formats . On this point they are clearly inferior to other formats like BMP, where there is no loss of image quality. If what we want is to minimize this deficiency, a good alternative is to work with RAW JPEG files. With it, we can choose the editable elements before saving the final version.