Portable Network Graphics (PNG) Specification (Third Edition) Becomes a W3C Recommendation
Introduction On 24 June 2025 , the PNG Working Group officially published the Portable Network Graphics (PNG) Specification (Third Edition) as a W3C Recommendation , marking a significant milestone in the evolution of this widely-used image format. This comprehensive specification outlines the technical details of PNG, an extensible, lossless, and highly portable file format designed for both static and animated raster images. With its robust compression capabilities and patent-free status, PNG continues to serve as a versatile alternative to formats like GIF and TIFF. This blog post explores the key features of the PNG specification, its significance, and its impact on developers, designers, and the broader web ecosystem. What is PNG? Portable Network Graphics (PNG) is a raster graphics file format developed in the mid-1990s as an open, patent-free alternative to the Graphics Interchange Format (GIF). PNG was designed to address limitations in existing formats while provi...