JPEG XL (.jxl) is a modern format designed to replace JPEG, with several standout tricks.
Why it's exciting
- Smaller files than JPEG and competitive with AVIF.
- Lossless JPEG re-compression — shrink existing JPEGs ~20% with zero quality loss, fully reversible.
- Supports HDR, wide gamut, transparency and animation.
- Fast to encode and decode.
The catch
Browser support is the problem. Adoption has stalled, so you can't rely on .jxl displaying for all visitors today.
What to use now
For production, stick with WebP (broad support) or AVIF (great compression). Keep an eye on JPEG XL for the future. To convert today's images, use convert to WebP.