PNG

PNG stands for Portable Network Graphics. It is a raster image file format designed for lossless, portable, compressed storage of static and animated raster images. PNG stores image information as pixels rather than as vector paths or geometric objects. The current W3C PNG Specification, Third Edition, supports indexed-color, grayscale, and truecolor images, with optional transparency through an alpha channel. Depending on the PNG color type, sample depths range from 1 to 16 bits.

PNG uses lossless compression, meaning the encoded image data can be decompressed without intentionally discarding image information. This makes PNG useful when maintaining sharp edges, text, line art, transparency, or repeated exact rendering is important.

PNG is a raster format, meaning the image consists of a fixed grid of pixels. Because those pixels contain a finite amount of image information, increasing the physical size of a PNG does not create new image detail. This distinguishes PNG from vector formats such as SVG, which describe artwork using scalable geometric information.

PNG can also store transparency. Transparent pixels are different from white pixels: white is visible image information, while transparency allows underlying content or surfaces to remain visible. This capability makes PNG particularly useful for isolated artwork, logos, overlays, product graphics, and production workflows that need transparent raster artwork.