.jpg File — JPEG Image

JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) is the most widely used image format on the internet and in digital photography. Developed in 1992, JPEG uses lossy compression based on the discrete cosine transform (DCT) to dramatically reduce file sizes by discarding visual information that the human eye is less sensitive to. Users can adjust the compression quality from 1-100, trading image quality for smaller file sizes. JPEG excels at compressing photographs and complex images with smooth color gradients but produces visible artifacts on sharp edges, text, and graphics with high contrast boundaries. The format supports up to 24-bit color (16.7 million colors) and EXIF metadata for camera settings, GPS coordinates, and timestamps. JPEG does not support transparency or animation. Progressive JPEG allows images to load in multiple passes from blurry to sharp, improving perceived performance on slow connections. Despite newer formats like WebP and AVIF offering better compression, JPEG remains the most universally supported image format across all browsers, devices, and platforms.