This page is intended to provide an explanation of some of the features of the PNG format for non-technical users. As such, it doesn't emphasize PNG features like freedom from patents; those are more of concern to developers. Where programmer information is given, it is principally to explain to the user why various applications may not perform as well as expected. Where performance claims are made--especially compression comparisons with other image formats--we assume that the PNG implementation is at least as good as the best freeware encoders. Note
This page is intended to provide an explanation of some of the features of the PNG format for non-technical users. As such, it doesn't emphasize PNG features like freedom from patents; those are more of concern to developers. Where programmer information is given, it is principally to explain to the user why various applications may not perform as well as expected. Where performance claims are made--especially compression comparisons with other image formats--we assume that the PNG implementation is at least as good as the best freeware encoders. Note
For those of you who simply wish to buy a commercial application or download a zipfile full of executables and start looking at or making pictures, the pages below have pointers to a large number of applications that are known to support PNG in one form or other, or that are going to support PNG in the near future. Some of the programs (particularly those for Unix) are provided as source code and may require libpng and/or zlib (see PNG Source Code and Libraries), but often even these have pre-built binaries for popular systems somewhere nearby.
Also