Creator media glossary
What is PNG?
Short answer
A lossless image format that preserves transparency - the standard choice for logos, screenshots and graphics with text.
Key takeaways
- PNG is a lossless image format with full transparency, created in 1996 as a patent-free replacement for GIF.
- Use it for screenshots, logos, text and graphics; use JPEG or WebP for photos.
- PNG-8 (256 colors) makes tiny files; PNG-24 and PNG-32 keep full color, PNG-32 with transparency.
- Re-saving a PNG never lowers quality.
PNG explained
PNG never throws away image data the way JPEG does, which is exactly why it's the right choice for anything with hard edges, flat colors or text: logos, UI screenshots, overlays. The tradeoff is file size - a PNG of a detailed photo is usually much larger than an equivalent JPEG.
PNG's alpha channel (transparency) is the other reason to reach for it: any graphic that needs to sit on top of a video or a colored background without a visible box around it needs PNG (or WebP) rather than JPEG.
Why PNG was created
In late 1994 Unisys began enforcing its patent on the LZW compression that GIF used, and software makers suddenly faced license fees for writing GIFs. A group of developers designed PNG within months as a patent-free replacement; it became a W3C Recommendation in 1996 and an ISO standard (ISO/IEC 15948) in 2004. The W3C's third edition, published in 2025, formally adds animated PNG (APNG), HDR color and Exif metadata.
How PNG compression works
A PNG file starts with an 8-byte signature followed by chunks: IHDR with the width, height and color type, IDAT chunks with the compressed pixels, optional chunks for the color profile, gamma or text, and IEND at the end. Each row of pixels is first passed through a filter that predicts it from its neighbors, then compressed with DEFLATE, the same lossless method used in ZIP files. Nothing is thrown away, so a PNG decodes to exactly the pixels that were saved.
That is why PNG suits flat colors and sharp edges: screenshots, logos, charts and text compress well, while photographs, full of noise and gradients, end up several times larger than a JPEG.
PNG color types: PNG-8, PNG-24 and PNG-32
| Type | Colors | Transparency | Use |
|---|---|---|---|
| PNG-8 (indexed) | Up to 256 from a palette | Per palette entry | Icons and simple graphics; smallest files |
| PNG-24 (truecolour) | 16.7 million (8 bits per channel) | None, or one color marked transparent | Screenshots and graphics without transparency |
| PNG-32 (truecolour + alpha) | 16.7 million | Full 8-bit alpha | Logos, cut-outs, overlays |
| 16-bit per channel | Billions | Optional 16-bit alpha | Editing masters and scientific images |
| Grayscale | Up to 65,536 grays | Optional | Masks and scans |
Image formats by platform
| Platform and image | JPEG | PNG | WebP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Instagram (API: feed, story, Reels cover) | Yes | Not listed | Not listed |
| YouTube thumbnails | Yes | Yes | Not listed |
| Facebook Page profile and cover | Yes (fastest) | Yes (better for logos and text) | Not listed |
| LinkedIn Page images | Yes | Yes | Not listed |
| Pinterest pins | Yes | Yes | Not listed |
PNG vs GIF, TIFF and SVG
| PNG | GIF | TIFF | SVG | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Type | Raster, lossless | Raster, 256 colors | Raster, usually lossless | Vector |
| Transparency | Full alpha | On or off | Yes | Yes |
| Animation | APNG | Yes | No | With CSS or script |
| Best for | Web graphics, screenshots | Simple animations | Print and archiving (CMYK support) | Logos and icons at any size |
How to open and edit a PNG
- Windows: Photos to view, Paint for quick edits, Paint.NET or GIMP for layers.
- Mac: Preview to view, crop, resize and export; Photos for libraries.
- Phones: the gallery opens PNGs; screenshots on iPhone and Android are PNG by default.
- Professional editors: Photoshop, Affinity Photo, GIMP and Figma all read and write PNG with transparency.
PNG vs JPEG vs WebP vs GIF
| PNG | JPEG | WebP | GIF | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Compression | Lossless | Lossy | Lossy or lossless | Lossless, 256 colors |
| Transparency | Full alpha | None | Full alpha | On or off |
| Animation | APNG | No | Yes | Yes |
| Photos | Large files | Best compatibility | Smallest | Poor |
| Text and logos | Best | Blurry edges | Good | OK if few colors |
| Social uploads | Most platforms | Every platform | Rarely listed | Some platforms |
Advantages and drawbacks of PNG
Advantages
- Lossless: re-saving never degrades the image
- Full transparency with soft edges
- Sharp text, lines and flat color
- Opens everywhere, from browsers to phone galleries
Drawbacks
- Photos are much larger than JPEG or WebP
- RGB only, no CMYK, so print shops often want TIFF or PDF
- Exif and animation support arrived late and is uneven
- Platforms convert PNG uploads, and some drop transparency
How to open, convert and shrink a PNG
- Open: any browser, Windows Photos, macOS Preview, and the gallery app on any phone.
- Convert to JPEG for photos or to send to platforms that want JPEG; transparent areas need a background color first. Our image converter does it in the browser.
- Shrink without loss with an optimizer such as oxipng, or reduce the palette with pngquant, which is lossy but often halves the size of graphics.
- Export screenshots of text and UI as PNG, never JPEG, to keep edges crisp.
Free tools:PNG to JPGPNG to WebPImage compressor
Frequently asked questions
What is PNG?
PNG (Portable Network Graphics) is a lossless image format: it keeps every pixel exactly and supports transparency (an alpha channel). Files are larger than JPEG for photos, smaller and sharper for flat graphics.
PNG or JPEG?
PNG for logos, screenshots, graphics with text and anything transparent; JPEG for photographs. Facebook notes that profile pictures and covers with logos or text may look better as PNG.
Can I upload a PNG to Instagram?
The Instagram API image spec lists JPEG only. The app generally converts what you pick, but transparency is lost, so export a JPEG with the background you want.
What does PNG stand for?
Portable Network Graphics. An unofficial early backronym was "PNG's Not GIF".
Is PNG better quality than JPEG?
PNG keeps every pixel, so it never adds compression artifacts. For photos, a high-quality JPEG looks the same to most people at a fraction of the size; for text, logos and screenshots PNG is clearly better.
Why is my PNG so big?
It is probably a photo, or a graphic saved as 24- or 32-bit when 256 colors would do. Save photos as JPEG or WebP, and run graphics through a PNG optimizer.
Let Koldflux pick the settings
Koldflux chooses the codec, container and bitrate for each platform when it exports.
Free tools that use this
Sources and how we checked
- MDN: Image file type and format guide (checked 2026-10-05)
- Instagram API: IG User Media (reel, story and video specifications) (checked 2026-10-05)
- YouTube Help: Add custom thumbnails (checked 2026-10-05)
- Facebook Help: Page profile picture and cover photo dimensions (checked 2026-10-05)
- LinkedIn Help: Image specifications for LinkedIn Pages (checked 2026-10-05)
- Pinterest Help: Pinterest product specs (checked 2026-10-05)
- W3C: Portable Network Graphics (PNG) Specification (Third Edition) (checked 2026-10-06)
Reviewed October 6, 2026 by the Koldflux team. Definitions follow the specifications and platform documentation linked above; platform tables come from the same registry the Koldflux tools use.