JPG to TGA converter
Convert JPG to TGA in seconds, free and unlimited. No upload, no sign-up, no watermark: your image never leaves your device.
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Quick answer: To convert JPG to TGA, add the JPG file to the iHateFiles JPG to TGA converter and press Convert. The conversion runs in your browser, so the file is never uploaded, and it is free with no sign-up, watermark or size limit. TGA supports transparency, which JPG never had. That helps if you plan to cut the background out afterwards.
Should you convert JPG to TGA?
Do this when you are about to edit the file and want no further loss. Do not do it hoping to improve a JPG: TGA preserves what it is given, including the damage.
JPG is lossy and TGA is not
Moving from JPG to TGA stops any further loss, but it cannot undo what JPG already discarded: that detail was thrown away when the file was first written and is not in it any more. Expect the TGA to be considerably larger while looking exactly the same, because it is now storing the JPG artefacts faithfully too.
TGA supports transparency, but there is none to recover
TGA can store an alpha channel and JPG cannot, so nothing is gained here automatically. The result is fully opaque. Transparency has to be cut in an editor; no converter can work out which parts of a JPG were meant to be see-through.
Expect a much larger file
TGA stores every pixel exactly, including the compression artefacts the JPG already has. The file will grow, sometimes by a factor of ten, without looking any better. Do this when you need to edit without further loss, not to improve the image.
JPG and TGA side by side
| JPG | TGA | |
|---|---|---|
| Compression | Lossy | Lossless |
| Transparency | No | Yes |
| Animation | No | No |
| Written here | Yes | Yes |
What usually goes wrong
About the JPG. Re-saving a JPG repeatedly degrades it every time, because it re-encodes from the already damaged version. Edit from the original, and export to JPG once at the end.
About the TGA. Older TGA files carry no signature at all, so nothing can identify one except by its extension. Files written here include the version 2 footer so they can be recognised.
How to convert JPG to TGA
- Add your JPG file. It is read from your disk and stays there.
- Check the settings. The output format is already set to TGA.
- Press convert and the TGA file is saved back to your device.
Questions
How do I convert JPG to TGA?
Open this page, add your JPG file, and press convert. The file is decoded and re-encoded by your own browser and saved back to your device. Nothing is uploaded.
Is this JPG to TGA converter free?
Yes, completely. There is no account, no sign-in, no watermark and no daily limit, because there is no server doing the work. Your own device does it.
Are my files uploaded anywhere?
No. There is no upload endpoint. The conversion runs inside this browser tab, so your file never leaves your device. You can open your browser's network panel and watch: nothing carrying your file is sent.
Is there a file size limit?
No fixed limit. Because the work happens on your machine there is no server quota. The only ceiling is your own device's memory, which for video means very large files may be slow.
Will converting to TGA lose quality?
TGA is lossless, so this step throws nothing away. If the original was already a lossy format, the damage it did cannot be undone, but nothing further is lost.
Can I convert several JPG files at once?
Yes. Add as many as you like and they are converted one after another, then offered as a single ZIP.