WebP to PNG
What WebP to PNG actually does
Almost nobody chooses to have a WebP. It arrives because a web page served one and the browser saved what it was given, and then the program that has to open it declines. That is the whole job of this page. PNG is the right destination for it because both formats store transparency, so a cutout saved off a page stays a cutout, and because PNG is lossless, so nothing further is thrown away on top of what the WebP already compressed. The one case worth knowing about in advance is animation. A WebP can hold a sequence, PNG in a single file cannot, and any converter that hands back a still image from an animated source without saying so has given a wrong answer quietly. An animated source is flagged on its row before anything is downloaded.
How to use it
- Add the WebP files that will not open. There is nothing to configure, since PNG is lossless.
- Watch for the animation flag on any row that carries a sequence.
- Convert and download, singly or as a zip.
Useful for
- Open a picture saved from a web page in an editor or a document tool that rejects WebP.
- Keep a cutout with a transparent background usable outside a browser.
- Get a still frame out of an animated WebP.
Limits worth knowing
- An animated WebP becomes one frame. The sequence is not preserved.
- The PNG will be larger, because WebP compresses harder and PNG stores every pixel.
- Detail the WebP discarded when it was created is not recovered.
- Colour profiles are not carried through.
Questions people ask
Why will my software not open a WebP at all?
It is a newer format aimed at web delivery, and plenty of desktop and print software has never added a decoder for it. Browsers all read it, which is why files keep arriving in it.
Does the transparent background survive?
Yes. Both formats store an alpha channel, so a cutout stays a cutout.
Should I choose PNG or JPG for this?
PNG when the picture has transparency or flat graphics and text. JPG when it is a photograph and the file size matters more than exactness.