Is SVG always smaller than PNG?

No, it depends on the content. A simple logo or line chart takes a few kilobytes as SVG while being hundreds of kilobytes as PNG. But when you convert a text-heavy page to outlines, every letter becomes a vector shape and the SVG bloats; the same page can be smaller as PNG. On pages with photos SVG always loses, because it embeds the photo and adds an XML wrapper on top.

Which should I use for my website?

SVG for logos, icons, line charts and diagrams — it stays sharp at every screen resolution and is usually smaller. WebP or JPEG for photos and photo-like images. PNG or WebP for full-page images with mixed content. If you use PNG on retina screens you need to produce it at double resolution; with SVG there's no such worry.

How do I choose the resolution for PNG?

By where it'll be used. For normal viewing on the web 96-150 DPI is enough; double it for high-density screens. For printing, 300 DPI is standard. Making an A4 page a PNG at 300 DPI gives you roughly 2480 × 3508 pixels and the file can be several megabytes. Resolution beyond what you need just bloats the file.

Which format should I convert a scanned PDF to?

PNG or JPEG. A scanned page is already pixel data; converting to SVG gains no vector, it just puts the same image inside an XML wrapper and grows the file. PNG usually gives a smaller file for text-heavy black-and-white scans, and JPEG for photos and grayscale scans.

Convert a PDF to SVG or PNG? Vector vs. Raster Compared

You're about to export a PDF page as an image — to use in a presentation, put on a website, embed in an email, or edit in a design program. Three main options come up: SVG, PNG and JPEG. The right choice depends on the page's content and where the image is going, and the wrong choice comes back to you as either lost quality or file size.

The basic distinction: vector or raster?

SVG is vector. It stores shapes as mathematical definitions: "a curve from this point to that point, filled with this color." It's recalculated at every scale, so it stays sharp however much you enlarge it.

PNG and JPEG are raster. They store a fixed grid of pixels. When you enlarge them the pixels get bigger and the image blurs.

That distinction determines everything — but saying "vector is always better" would be wrong, because not every kind of content suits vector.

Comparison table

| Criterion | SVG | PNG | JPEG | |---|---|---|---| | Scalability | Unlimited | Fixed | Fixed | | Suitability for photos | Bad | Medium | Very good | | Suitability for lines/text | Very good | Good | Bad (blurring) | | Transparency | Yes | Yes | No | | Editability | High | None | None | | Selectable text | Possible | No | No | | Control with CSS/JS | Yes | No | No | | Lossy | No | No | Yes | | Opens everywhere | In modern environments | Yes | Yes |

Scenario 1: Putting a logo from a PDF on a website

You're isolating the logo from a brand identity guide.

Winner: SVG, no contest.

A logo typically consists of a few flat areas and a few curves. In SVG that's a file of a few kilobytes. To show the same logo sharply on retina screens as PNG you'd need to produce it at 800×800 pixels and the file would be 50-200 KB.

SVG's extra advantages: you can change its color with CSS (supporting dark/light themes), it stays automatically sharp at every screen density, and you use one file at every size.

The isolation process: extract the page containing the logo, convert it to SVG, open it in a vector editor and delete everything but the logo, crop the canvas, optimize and save.

Scenario 2: Sharing a scanned document as an image

You have a scan of an old record and you're putting it in a presentation.

Winner: PNG (if text-heavy) or JPEG (if photographic/grayscale).

SVG is entirely the wrong choice in this scenario. A scanned page is already pixel data; when you convert it to SVG the converter embeds that image inside the SVG as base64. The result: the same pixels, plus an XML wrapper, plus the roughly 33% size increase base64 encoding brings. No gain, just loss.

On the PNG vs. JPEG question the rough rule: PNG for sharp-edged, low-color content; JPEG for continuous-tone, photo-like content. Black-and-white scanned text is both smaller and sharper as PNG. Grayscale or color scans shrink noticeably as JPEG.

Scenario 3: Editing a technical drawing in a design program

A CAD output arrived as a PDF and you need to change the dimensions.

Winner: SVG.

This is the one scenario where editability is required, and raster formats offer nothing here. When you open a PNG in an editor you see a single image object; you can't reach the individual lines.

In SVG every line, every circle, every fill is a separate element. You can select, move, recolor and delete them.

Set the right expectation: SVGs coming from PDFs usually consist of many nested groups and clipping paths, and the structure isn't clean. The CAD file's layer information, dimension objects and parametric structure are also lost — all you have left are lines.

Scenario 4: Putting a report page in a presentation

You're placing a chart or a table into a PowerPoint slide.

Winner: PNG, usually.

Presentation software's SVG support varies — some support it, some don't, some support it but render it differently. If you'll open the presentation on another computer, you don't want to take the risk.

PNG is the safe choice. When choosing the resolution, think about how the presentation will be shown: 1920 pixels wide is enough for projection, but printing needs more.

Don't use JPEG in presentations: on images containing text and lines, JPEG's compression leaves blurry halos (artifacts) around the edges and the result looks sloppy.

Scenario 5: Publishing an infographic on a website

A full-page graphic in color containing text and shapes.

Winner: it depends — test it.

This is the scenario without a single right answer. Two factors decide:

The amount of text. If you convert the text to outlines during SVG conversion, every letter becomes a vector shape. On a text-dense infographic that can push the SVG into the hundreds of kilobytes. The same graphic can be smaller as PNG.

Whether there are embedded photos. If there are, SVG loses — it embeds the photo and bloats.

The practical approach: produce it in both formats, compare the sizes, open both in a browser and look at the visual quality. In most cases you'll see one of them winning clearly.

If SVG wins there's an extra advantage: it stays automatically sharp on high-density screens and you don't have to produce files at two different resolutions.

Scenario 6: An image that will be printed

You're going to print a page at high quality.

Winner: PNG (300 DPI) or PDF directly.

The best answer, actually, is: don't convert at all. PDF is already the best format for printing — vector content prints at full resolution, CMYK color information is preserved, and fonts are embedded.

If you have to convert to an image format, produce PNG at 300 DPI. For an A4 page that means roughly 2480 × 3508 pixels and the file will be several megabytes.

SVG may look technically suitable for print but it has three shortcomings: no CMYK support, no defined bleed or crop marks, and no embeddable color profile. That's why print shops don't accept SVG.

Choosing the resolution for PNG

If you picked PNG, the critical setting is resolution:

| Use | Recommended DPI | Pixels for A4 | |---|---|---| | Web, normal screen | 96 | ~794 × 1123 | | Web, high-density screen | 192 | ~1587 × 2245 | | Presentation (projection) | 150 | ~1240 × 1754 | | Printing | 300 | ~2480 × 3508 | | High-quality print | 600 | ~4960 × 7016 |

Choosing a resolution higher than you need just bloats the file; it gains no quality, because the source PDF has its own resolution limit (especially for the images inside it).

Decision summary

A simple flow:

Is the source scanned? If yes → PNG or JPEG. Don't consider SVG.
Do you need to edit it? If yes → SVG, no other option.
Is it a logo, icon or line chart? If yes → SVG.
Is it photo-heavy? If yes → JPEG (or WebP for the web).
Is it going into a presentation? → PNG, for compatibility.
Will it be printed? → Leave it as PDF; if you must, 300 DPI PNG.
Mixed content headed for the web? → Produce both and compare.

And one last reminder: before converting, zoom way in on the page and check whether the source is genuinely vector. That single check alone answers half of the decisions above.