About PNG — the lossless workhorse of the web
PNG stands for Portable Network Graphics. It was standardized in 1996 specifically as a free, patent-unencumbered alternative to GIF after Unisys controversially started enforcing patents on GIF's LZW compression. PNG was an instant hit: lossless compression, support for transparency (alpha channel), and palette-indexed colour for small files.
When to use PNG
- Screenshots — every pixel of UI lands exactly as captured.
- Icons and logos at fixed size — sharper edges than JPG can hold.
- Images with transparency — the alpha channel lets you layer one image over another.
- Any image you will edit further — JPG re-saves accumulate quality loss; PNG doesn't.
Strengths and trade-offs vs JPG, WebP, AVIF
PNG is lossless — JPG is lossy. For a typical photograph, JPG at quality 85 is visually identical to PNG but 60–80% smaller. For screenshots, PNG is usually smaller AND sharper than JPG. WebP (2010) and AVIF (2019) both compress smaller than PNG at the same fidelity but JPG/PNG remain the universal lingua franca. PNG also wins for graphics that need lossless transparency — neither JPG nor most legacy software can match that.
Tools for PNG
To shrink PNG file size without visible change, use the PNG Compressor (pngquant + zopfli, typically 50–70% smaller). To convert to a smaller format when transparency isn't needed, use PNG to JPG. Need a transparent PNG cutout from a photo? Remove Background runs the AI cutout and exports a clean transparent PNG.
