Why can’t JPEGS be transparent?
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They can, if you use the correct variant of JPEG. The catch is that almost every computer program only handles the OG variant from 1992, which doesn’t have any way to record transparency, and doesn’t know anything about more recent versions.
A newer version called JPEG2000 came out in about 2000, which could do transparency, HDR, and it could do lossless quality and drawings as well as photos. It was a completely different file type, so you needed special software to open it or save it, and do anything with it. There were also tons of companies claiming that JPEG2k was based on their patented technology and were threatening to sue anyone that used JPEG2k. It was also super slow to save and open files which was a big problem on the computers of the time. As a result almost no one used it – just a few pro photographers and doctors.
The latest version of JPEG is called JPEG XT. This adds all the cool features of JPEG2k and more, and is also compatible with the old JPEG file format. Old software can open a JPEG XT file and get a standard JPEG quality image out. New software will get the enhanced version of the file with HDR, transparency and other features. The problem is that not much software is out there that can save this type of file and not much that can open the new features.
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