Why Your Images Look Blurry After Converting (And How to Fix It)

So Your Image Came Out Looking Like a Potato

Okay so you converted an image—maybe PNG to JPG or whatever—and now it looks like someone smeared vaseline on it. Super frustrating, I know. I've been there like a million times trying to resize stuff for school projects or Discord pfps.

Here's the thing though. It's not random. There's actual reasons why this happens, and once you get it, you can avoid it pretty easily. Let me break it down without getting too nerdy about it.

JPG Does This Thing Called "Lossy Compression"

JPG (or JPEG, same thing) was invented back in the day when storage was expensive and internet was slow. Like, dial-up slow. So they made it throw away some image data to make files smaller.

Every time you save a JPG, it's literally deleting pixels it thinks you won't notice. And honestly? For photos it works pretty well. But here's where people mess up:

• Saving the same JPG multiple times — each save loses more quality. It's like making a photocopy of a photocopy
• Using super low quality settings — some converters default to like 60% quality which is... rough
• Converting screenshots or text — JPG hates sharp edges. It literally smudges them on purpose

Quality Settings Actually Matter (Who Knew)

When you convert to JPG, there's usually a quality slider somewhere between 0-100. Most people just leave it at default and hope for the best. Bad move.

Here's what actually happens at different levels:

• 90-100% — Basically perfect. You won't see any difference. File is bigger though
• 80-89% — Still looks great. This is the sweet spot for most stuff
• 70-79% — You might start noticing some fuzz around edges
• Below 70% — Only if you really need tiny files and don't care about quality

Pro tip: if you're posting something online that's gonna get compressed again (like Instagram), start with higher quality. That way after THEY compress it, it still looks decent.

Resizing Gone Wrong

This is probably the most common reason pics look bad. You take a 500x500 image and stretch it to 2000x2000. Obviously it's gonna look terrible—you're literally asking the computer to invent pixels that don't exist.

Going the other way is usually fine though. Shrinking a big image keeps the quality because you're throwing away pixels, not making them up. That's why photographers always shoot at max resolution even if the final thing will be smaller.

The Format Matters More Than You Think

Different formats are good at different things. Using the wrong one is like using a hammer to screw in a screw. It'll kinda work but... why.

• PNG — Screenshots, logos, anything with text or transparency. No quality loss ever
• JPG — Photos of real life stuff. Sunsets, people, whatever. Smaller files
• WebP — Newer format that's good at both. Smaller than PNG AND JPG usually
• GIF — Animations and memes. Only 256 colors though so photos look weird

Converting between these wrong can mess things up. Like if you take a PNG screenshot, convert to JPG, then back to PNG—congrats, you now have a blurry PNG. The damage from JPG is permanent.

What's Actually Happening When You Convert

Okay I'll try to explain this without being too boring. When you have a PNG, every single pixel is saved exactly as-is. Red is red, blue is blue, no approximations.

JPG looks at the image and goes "okay these 8 pixels are KINDA the same color so I'll just make them all the average." That's why solid colors get blocky and edges get fuzzy. It's averaging everything.

The math behind it is actually pretty cool (it's called DCT if you wanna look it up) but basically it exploits how human eyes work. We're bad at seeing certain details so it removes those first. Smart but annoying when you actually want those details.

How to Not Mess Up Your Images

Alright here's the actual useful part. Follow this and you'll be fine:

1. Keep originals — Never work on your only copy of an image
2. Pick the right format — Photos = JPG, screenshots/logos = PNG, both = WebP
3. Use 85%+ quality for JPG — Unless file size really matters
4. Don't upscale — Or use AI upscaling if you have to
5. Convert once — Going back and forth between formats destroys quality

Also use a reliable converter. Some low-quality websites apply aggressive defaults and can over-compress your image beyond what is stated.

But What If It's Already Blurry?

Bad news: you can't really "unblur" an image. Once those pixels are gone, they're gone. It's not like in movies where they're like "enhance!" and suddenly it's 4K.

You have a few options though:

• Find the original — Check your downloads, camera roll, wherever. Maybe it's still there
• AI upscaling — Won't restore what's lost but can make it look slightly better
• Sharpening filters — Makes edges more defined but can look weird if overdone
• Use it smaller — Blur is less noticeable at small sizes. Just don't zoom in lol

TL;DR

Your images look blurry because either: you used the wrong format (JPG for screenshots = bad), the quality setting was too low, you stretched a small image bigger, or you converted back and forth too many times.

Keep your originals, use PNG for sharp stuff and JPG for photos, and don't let random websites compress your pics without checking the settings first. That's it. That's the whole thing.