PNG Mag
All Articles
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Why Your CDN-Served PNG Is Not Byte-for-Byte the Same as the Original
Image optimization layers can rewrite PNG filters, compression, metadata, dimensions, or even format while preserving a similar visual result.
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PNG for Favicons and App Icons: Exporting the Right Raster Sizes Instead of One Giant Master
A large transparent master is useful, but icon delivery often needs carefully rendered sizes rather than one huge PNG scaled everywhere.
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Inside a PNG File: Critical vs Ancillary Chunks and Why Unknown Chunks Can Still Matter
PNG was designed to be extensible. Some chunks are essential for decoding, while others add optional information that software may preserve, use, or ignore.
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PNG vs JPEG for Screenshots, Diagrams, and UI: Stop Choosing by File Extension Habit
PNG and JPEG fail in different ways. Sharp synthetic graphics and photographic imagery create very different compression problems.
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Can You Make a PNG Higher Resolution Without Losing Quality? What Upscaling Can and Cannot Recover
PNG is a raster format. Increasing pixel dimensions can create more samples, but it cannot recover original detail that was never stored.
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When an Indexed-Color PNG Beats Truecolor: Palette Size, tRNS, and Real-World Assets
If an image truly uses a small color set, storing palette indexes can be dramatically more efficient than storing RGB values for every pixel.
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Should You Strip ICC Profiles From PNG Files? The File-Size Win Can Change Color
Removing an embedded profile saves metadata bytes, but it can also remove information a color-managed application needs to reproduce intended color.
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Invisible Pixels Can Still Have Color: The Hidden RGB Data Inside Transparent PNG Areas
An alpha value of zero makes a pixel invisible, but straight-alpha image data can still carry RGB samples underneath that transparency.
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Animated PNG (APNG) Explained: Frames, Compatibility, and When It Beats GIF
Modern PNG includes frame-based animation. APNG can preserve full-color imagery and alpha transparency, but animation changes performance decisions.
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Why the Same PNG Can Look Different Across Apps and Browsers
Embedded color profiles, gamma metadata, and unmanaged viewers explain why one PNG can look different across apps and browsers.
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Why a PNG File Gets Much Larger After a Small Edit
Color type, bit depth, palette expansion, alpha, metadata, and the encoder explain why a small PNG edit can produce a much larger file.
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Is That PNG Really Transparent? How to Spot a Baked-In Checkerboard
A few quick checks can reveal whether a PNG contains genuine transparency or merely a checkerboard drawn into its pixels.
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Why Transparent PNG Edges Get White or Dark Halos—and How to Fix Them
A workflow for finding and fixing white, dark or colored fringes around transparent PNG assets on changing backgrounds.
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What Is an Image With No Background Called? Transparent Image Formats Explained
An image with no visible background is usually called a transparent image or an image with a transparent background. Learn how transparency works and how PNG, WebP, AVIF, SVG and JPEG handle transparent areas.
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Best Image Format for Transparent Backgrounds: PNG, WebP, AVIF, SVG or GIF?
Which image format is best for a transparent background? Compare PNG, WebP, AVIF, SVG and GIF by transparency support, image quality, file size, scalability and common use cases.
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Does AVIF Support Progressive Decoding? How AVIF Images Actually Load
Does AVIF support progressive decoding like progressive JPEG? Learn how AVIF images are encoded, decoded and displayed, what progressive loading actually means, and what developers should consider when choosing AVIF for the web.
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Lossless PNG Compression: What Changes and What Stays Intact
Lossless PNG compression shrinks the file without discarding image data. Details, colors, and sharpness stay intact.
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SVG vs PNG for Logos: Scaling, File Size and Export Choices
Use vector SVG where it fits, and PNG when you need a raster export. Check embedded bitmaps, output dimensions and real file sizes.
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How to Remove Background from PNG Images
Remove a PNG background with the browser tool or a GIMP layer mask. Check hair, halos and the exported file before using the cutout.
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PNG-8 vs PNG-24: Color, Transparency and File Size
PNG-8 uses an indexed palette, while PNG-24 stores RGB color directly—but transparency, compression and exporter labels make the practical choice less obvious.