PNG is an image format developed as a royalty-free alternative to GIF in response to a patent application. It has technical advantages over GIF, including higher color depth and smaller file sizes. PNG also allows for an alpha channel, but does not support animation. Its popularity is increasing due to support from major graphics programs.
The Portable Network Graphics file format, commonly referred to as PNG, is an image format similar to the popular GIF format. It is pronounced like the word “ping” or, more commonly, as “PNG”.
The PNG image format was developed in response to a patent application on the pervasive GIF format. GIF images were ubiquitous in the early 1990s, having spread to fledgling web systems and bulletin board systems following CompuServe’s 1987 debut of the format. In 1995, the Unisys corporation announced that it would begin enforcing the GIF image format for profit-making software. PNG was developed as a royalty-free alternative to GIF soon after this announcement. In 2003, the US patent for the GIF image format expired, leaving it also royalty-free.
In addition to the now obsolete benefit of being royalty free, the PNG image format has a number of technical advantages over the GIF format.
Images saved in the PNG image format potentially have a much higher color depth than their GIF counterparts: while GIF limits its palette to 256 colors, PNG can be true color. This allows for much higher image fidelity than GIFs are capable of, allowing for images on par with their JPEG cousins.
Images in the PNG image format are also smaller than their GIF counterparts, although the greater color depth often results in larger files and the misconception that PNG is a bulkier format. In reality, if you force a PNG to save in 256 colors, the file will almost always be smaller than a GIF file of the same quality.
The PNG image format also allows for an alpha channel, providing transparency options that are not available in any other common image format. Unfortunately, this transparency is not supported by Internet Explorer, making its use as a web tool limited.
It should be noted that, unlike the GIF format, the PNG image format does not support animation. There are related formats (APNG and MNG) that handle animation similar to the GIF format.
The PNG image format has a strong grassroots following, even in the absence of patent issues to support its existence. It has suffered from a lack of full support in Internet Explorer, but continues to offer a solid alternative to the two most common image formats of GIF and JPEG. With major graphics programs like Fireworks and Photoshop offering strong support for the PNG image format, along with its clear technical superiority over the GIF format, it’s likely PNG’s popularity will only increase.
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