Site Reference Forums

SoraCross · 2008-05-15 17:14:30

So I am under the impression that PNG is better than GIF because it supports alpha transparency, and is compressed better. However, it seems that IE5 and 6 don't read PNG's transparency right, so I am wondering, which do you guys think is better?

Ryan_steyn · 2008-05-16 09:57:03

Until everybody in the world updates IE5 to recognize png images i am gonna stick with gif.

Png is much much much better IMHO but like many things in the computer world it is before its time.... or to late... who knows.

Funny thing is though, PNG files are the files used for images when exporting from... lets say - Corel Draw - to be used in microsoft office... kinda like a generic image file that just works. With that in mind, How the hell did microsoft not built the ability to read em in IE? ---- Conspiracy? Maybe not but it bladdy well should be tongue

SoraCross · 2008-05-16 10:13:12

So I've found a few good ways to actually get around the IE5 and 6 PNG bug. I haven't tried any yet, but they both sound like they're good. If anyone would like I could post the links here.

That said, if these fixes work perfectly would there be any reason to still use GIF aside of animation?

Steven_A_S · 2008-05-16 10:28:55

I came up against the same problem as you when I started at my current location. .png files have much more flexibility than .gifs (allowing for higher color resolution), and are an open standard where the .gif standard was owned by Compuserve. So, I decided to use .pngs where I would have used .gifs, especially where I needed transparency; and it looked good... until I tried it in Internet Exploder (which at the time I wasn't checking regularly).

So, for the time being, I stick with .gif files (and checking IE6 for problems) until I see that most of our customers have moved away from IE6.

Northie · 2008-05-16 11:03:36

There's no point trying to fix for IE5

IE6 does support 8-bit PNGs, so save as PNG-8, rather than just the default PNG-24 or -32

Steven_A_S · 2008-05-16 11:38:52

Northie wrote:
IE6 does support 8-bit PNGs, so save as PNG-8, rather than just the default PNG-24 or -32

I wasn't aware that the 8 bit version worked, but after a quick test, I see it's so; though that does still limit one of pngs advantages (having high-color transparencies and partial transparencies)

webmaker · 2008-05-19 03:25:40

PNG is more trouble than its worth, as the result is often unpredictable on target browsers, so we only use gif or jpeg formats. By the sounds of things I'd be using jpeg for anything high colour or that needs better than gifs limited colour palette. (Which of course is limited by design!)

MarkCCDC · 2008-05-19 14:47:04

Of course, animation isn't limited to GIF anymore....

http://animatedpng.com/

Ryan_steyn · 2008-05-20 01:20:45

Yeah but thats a givens, if you were really keen for a high res animation you could convert a bunch of jpg's into an avi which can be converted into an mpeg or whatever you can get to play online. I reckon there is still to much risk involved in using png at the moment. tongue

MarkCCDC · 2008-05-21 08:58:31

Ryan_steyn wrote:
Yeah but thats a givens, if you were really keen for a high res animation you could convert a bunch of jpg's into an avi which can be converted into an mpeg or whatever you can get to play online. I reckon there is still to much risk involved in using png at the moment.

Oh, yeah, its still gonna be a while before APNG's are used - but I love the idea and hope it takes off eventually. FF3 supports it, so I guess we'll see support starting with Internet Explorer 12....

Ryan_steyn · 2008-05-21 09:17:01

MarkCCDC wrote:
FF3 supports it, so I guess we'll see support starting with Internet Explorer 12....

lol HAHAHAHAHAHAHHA Well that made my day big_smile Yeah it is gonna be pretty nifty once it takes off, at the same time i am hoping that microsoft dumps IE and pays mozilla to use FF instead... everyone wins

Roxane · 2008-05-22 16:01:19

SoraCross wrote:
So I am under the impression that PNG is better than GIF because it supports alpha transparency, and is compressed better. However, it seems that IE5 and 6 don't read PNG's transparency right, so I am wondering, which do you guys think is better?

If you haven't come across this yourself, here's a nice fix that worked well for me...
http://thedesignspace.net/MT2archives/000103.html

Northie · 2008-05-23 02:21:56

Roxane wrote:
SoraCross wrote:
So I am under the impression that PNG is better than GIF because it supports alpha transparency, and is compressed better. However, it seems that IE5 and 6 don't read PNG's transparency right, so I am wondering, which do you guys think is better?
If you haven't come across this yourself, here's a nice fix that worked well for me...
http://thedesignspace.net/MT2archives/000103.html

yeah, worked well for you.....

Be Warned

Code: css

DIV#yourDiv

{

 background-image: none;

 filter:

progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.AlphaImageLoader(src=images/yourImage.png,

sizingMethod='scale');

}

This code will break about 10% of IE6 computers. Even if your working version of IE is exactly the same as another some strange and unfindable bug will cause the entire computer to crash

seolady · 2008-06-11 22:53:42

isnt PNG the largest file of the three? And between GIF and JPEG, i would recommend GIF if you would upload these images in the web. Why? because its is lighter and it displays the right web colors. Try to experiment, create an image then save it on both formats then upload. Be sure you know what the right color code (e.g. FFFFF) you used. Check the image on the browser then check the colors using a "color picker".

Steven_A_S · 2008-06-12 09:20:48

Don't be too quick to lock in to just GIF format. GIF is great for symbols and illustrations where you're using limited numbers of colors and long runs of each color, but where you're using actual pictures, JPG is going to save much more space, even on higher quality settings. Your best bet is evaluating the image for each use and deciding which format will best serve you on a case by case basis.

Ryan_steyn · 2008-06-12 09:58:45

Steven_A_S wrote:
Don't be too quick to lock in to just GIF format. GIF is great for symbols and illustrations where you're using limited numbers of colors and long runs of each color, but where you're using actual pictures, JPG is going to save much more space, even on higher quality settings. Your best bet is evaluating the image for each use and deciding which format will best serve you on a case by case basis.

Yip, i would never use a gif for anything more than 32 colors - and even thats pushing it. 256 is okay if you like the old dithered look though tongue Anything that needs to be 256 or higher should really be in jpg or else you will just be looking at rediculous file sizes for very poor quality.

seolady · 2008-06-12 20:44:27

Oh what i meant was if the image is a logo, an icon, transparent background (but i guess PNG is better for transparency) i would choose GIF. However if it is a photograph (photographic images) then you dont want to lose some colors right? then choose JPEG. But of course both of you guys (Ryan & Steve) are definitely correct glad

Sponsored Results

Site Reference Forums

#1 2008-05-15 17:14:30

PNG or GIF?

#2 2008-05-16 09:57:03

Re: PNG or GIF?

#3 2008-05-16 10:13:12

Re: PNG or GIF?

#4 2008-05-16 10:28:55

Re: PNG or GIF?

#5 2008-05-16 11:03:36

Re: PNG or GIF?

#6 2008-05-16 11:38:52

Re: PNG or GIF?

Northie wrote:

#7 2008-05-19 03:25:40

Re: PNG or GIF?

#8 2008-05-19 14:47:04

Re: PNG or GIF?

#9 2008-05-20 01:20:45

Re: PNG or GIF?

#10 2008-05-21 08:58:31

Re: PNG or GIF?

Ryan_steyn wrote:

#11 2008-05-21 09:17:01

Re: PNG or GIF?

MarkCCDC wrote:

#12 2008-05-22 16:01:19

Re: PNG or GIF?

SoraCross wrote:

#13 2008-05-23 02:21:56

Re: PNG or GIF?

Roxane wrote:

SoraCross wrote:

Code: css

#14 2008-06-11 22:53:42

Re: PNG or GIF?

#15 2008-06-12 09:20:48

Re: PNG or GIF?

#16 2008-06-12 09:58:45

Re: PNG or GIF?

Steven_A_S wrote:

#17 2008-06-12 20:44:27

Re: PNG or GIF?

Active Discussions

Review Requests and Introductions

Board footer