TGA to JPG Converter

Encoding: the TGA uses uncompressed or run-length encoded (RLE); JPG uses lossy DCT coding in 8×8 pixel blocks, with colour usually stored at half resolution, and the download is a standard JPEG at the quality you choose.

Bit depth: 8, 15, 16, 24 or 32 bits per pixel in the TGA; JPG allows 8 bits per channel, and the JPG written here has 8 bits per channel.

Colour: RGB, greyscale or a colour map in the TGA; JPG supports YCbCr shown as RGB, greyscale, or CMYK from print software, written here as 8-bit sRGB.

Transparency: the TGA stores it as the fourth byte of each 32-bit pixel (or one bit in 16-bit files); the JPG has none, so transparent areas are filled with the colour you choose.

Metadata: the TGA can carry an image ID field and an optional extension area with author and date; JPG can carry EXIF (camera, date, GPS), XMP, IPTC and an ICC profile in APP segments, but nothing is copied across.

TGA is a simple raster format still widely used for game textures and 3D rendering pipelines because it stores alpha channels reliably and loads fast.

A TGA has an 18-byte header (ID length, colour map type, image type 2 for true colour or 10 for RLE, origin, size, bits per pixel and a descriptor byte whose bits give the alpha depth and whether rows run top-down), then the pixels; version 2 files end with a 'TRUEVISION-XFILE' footer.

TGA files usually come from game engines, 3D renderers and texture painting tools.

JPEG is the universal photo format. It compresses by discarding fine detail the eye is least sensitive to, which makes photos small but blurs sharp edges and text if pushed too far.

A JPEG starts with the bytes FF D8 and is a run of marker segments: APP1 carries EXIF and often a thumbnail, APP2 an ICC profile, DQT the quantization tables that decide the quality, and SOS the compressed scan, which ends at FF D9.

JPG is the better choice for photographs that need to open anywhere, while TGA suits game textures and 3D software.

JPG strengths: Opens everywhere: every browser, phone, camera, printer and app; Small files for photographs; Adjustable quality from tiny to near-lossless. Drawbacks to weigh: No transparency; Lossy: every re-save loses a little more; Blocky artifacts around text, logos and sharp lines.