Convert JPG to AVIF on Windows: 3 Methods

Marketing sites still ship oversized JPEG heroes. AVIF often cuts bytes on modern browsers without an obvious quality hit on photos. It is a web delivery format, not a replacement for email or slides. Convert heroes, keep JPEG fallbacks in <picture>, and check analytics before you drop legacy formats.

Method 1: GetCompress

Best for: Marketing folders that need resize plus AVIF in one pass, with presets for heroes and thumbs.

1. Open GetCompress and drop JPEG heroes into the queue.
2. Set output to AVIF, choose quality, and optional max width.
3. Preview a photo and a gradient hero for banding.
4. Export locally; keep JPEG masters for editors and fallbacks.

Save separate presets for heroes and thumbnails. Processing stays on your PC.

Method 2: avifenc in PowerShell

Best for: Scripts when you already use winget.

winget install libavif
avifenc --min 22 --max 28 photo.jpg photo.avif

Batch:

mkdir avif-out
Get-ChildItem *.jpg, *.jpeg | ForEach-Object {
 avifenc --min 22 --max 28 $_.Name "avif-out\$($_.BaseName).avif"
}

Resize first in Photos (… → Resize image) or with FFmpeg:

ffmpeg -i hero.jpg -vf scale=2400:-2 hero-resized.jpg
avifenc --min 22 --max 28 hero-resized.jpg hero.avif

A 6000 px camera JPEG rarely helps if the hero displays at 1200 px.

Limitation: Slow on large folders. Long encodes can starve other apps during work hours.

Method 3: FFmpeg

Best for: Teams that already batch video with FFmpeg builds that include libaom-av1.

ffmpeg -i photo.jpg -c:v libaom-av1 -crf 30 photo.avif

Limitation: Quality and speed depend on your build. Prefer avifenc when AVIF is the only job.

Which method should you use

Serve AVIF first and JPEG second in <picture>, with matching dimensions to avoid layout shift. Spot-check Chrome and Safari after deploy. General resize advice: compress images on Windows . For another modern web format, see PNG to WebP on Windows .

What AVIF is for

Photos usually shrink more than flat UI screenshots. Gradients show banding first; tune quality there before you encode a full folder.

When a JPEG is enough

Keep JPEG alone for email, many CMS uploads, and social tools that reject AVIF.

GetCompress fits when you ship static sites regularly, need width caps without editing PowerShell loops, and want local encoding of embargo campaign art. Keep JPEG masters for editors; commit AVIF and JPEG pairs for delivery. It does not replace your CMS or design tool. Winget avifenc and GetCompress can coexist: CLI for tests, GetCompress for weekly hero drops.