How to Convert WebP Images into PNG Files That Open Everywhere

You save a picture from a website and plan to drop it into a presentation. The file ends in .webp, and the program refuses it. Nothing is wrong with the file or with your computer. The picture is simply in a format that was made for browsers and that some other software has not caught up with.

Three ways to deal with a WebP file

• Convert it. This always works, and it is what the rest of this guide describes.
• Open it with a program that already understands WebP. Recent versions of Windows and macOS come with viewers that can open WebP, and some of them can save a copy in another format. If yours can, that is just as good.
• Look for the original. Some sites offer a download button that gives you the JPG or PNG the owner uploaded. For a company logo, the press or media page of the company often has proper files.

Worked example: a logo for a slide

You need the logo of a partner organisation on a title slide with a dark blue background. You saved the logo from their website and it arrived as logo.webp.

1. Open the WebP to PNG tool and choose logo.webp.
2. Press Convert to PNG and look at the preview. If the area around the logo shows the page behind it, the background is transparent, which is what you want on a coloured slide.
3. Download logo.png and insert it into the slide.
4. Zoom the slide to full screen. If the logo looks soft, the picture from the website was small. Ask the organisation for a larger file. Do not stretch this one.

PNG was the right target here for two reasons. It kept the transparent background, so no white box appears on the dark slide. And it stores flat colours and sharp edges exactly, which is what a logo consists of. For a photograph going into an email, JPG would have been the better choice because the file would be much smaller.

Common mistakes

• Renaming the file. Changing .webp to .png in the file name does not convert anything. Some programs detect the real format and cope, and others show an error.
• Converting everything to PNG out of habit. A PNG of a large photo can be many megabytes. Use PNG for graphics and for transparency, and JPG for photos.
• Taking a screenshot instead. A screenshot captures the picture at the size it has on your screen, together with whatever is behind it, and loses the transparency.
• Using pictures you have no right to use. Being able to save an image from a website does not make it free to use. Check the licence, or ask the owner.

Troubleshooting

• The background came out black or white, not transparent: the WebP never had a transparent background. The website put it on a matching colour. An image editor is needed to cut it out.
• Only one frame was saved: the WebP was an animation. A PNG can hold only a still picture.
• The file will not open in the tool either: the download may be incomplete. Save the picture again from the website.

When converting is not the answer

If the picture is going back onto a website, leave it as WebP, since it is already in the best format for that. If you need a large, sharp version for print, converting will not help, because the web copy is small. You need the original artwork from its owner.

Checklist

• I am allowed to use this image.
• I chose PNG because I need transparency or sharp edges. Otherwise JPG would do.
• I checked the preview for a transparent background.
• The picture is large enough for where I will use it.