Neil P Posted March 27, 2004 Share Posted March 27, 2004 I went to upload my avatar as a PNG file but found that the only available formats are GIF and JPEG.Is this a choice of the admins, or is it a limitation by IPB? File sizes can be reduced by using a PNG rather than a GIF, for instance my avatar is about .5 kb smaller as PNG than GIF (sure, thats a trivial amount, but I'm sure it would all add up). Obviously GIF would still have to be used if the image is animated (or MNG, but I'm not sure how far along it is, and many browsers (including Mozilla) don't support it anyway).Just wondering... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonicDragon Posted March 27, 2004 Share Posted March 27, 2004 I don't know the answer to your question, however:You can always open up the png in something like GIMP or photoshop and save it as a gif or jpg. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havnblast Posted March 27, 2004 Share Posted March 27, 2004 I believe in this version of IPB it isn't an option - I know 1.2 and 1.3 allow it.IPB 2.0 test has been released - it's for stand alone testing only so they are getting closer to releasing 2.0 - Hopefully the upgrade script and process isn't too bad. Lots more features in 2.0 over 1.3 so it will be like a whole new forum going from 1.1.2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil P Posted March 27, 2004 Author Share Posted March 27, 2004 I don't know the answer to your question, however:You can always open up the png in something like GIMP or photoshop and save it as a gif or jpg.It already is a GIF ..I was going to just re-upload the same avatar as a PNGSorry for not making that clear Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ross549 Posted March 28, 2004 Share Posted March 28, 2004 What benefit does PNG have over GIF?*forgive me for asking a possibly stupis question. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zox Posted March 28, 2004 Share Posted March 28, 2004 What benefit does PNG have over GIF?*forgive me for asking a possibly stupis question. PNG has 8 bit alpha channel which gives you 256 shades of transparencyGIF has 1 bit alpha channel which gives you only transparent or not pixel (Black & white sort of thing :)PNG is free and open standard (non-patented)GIF is patented, therefore for commercial stuff you have to pay royalties Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ross549 Posted March 28, 2004 Share Posted March 28, 2004 Ah. Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LilBambi Posted March 28, 2004 Share Posted March 28, 2004 Yes, this is a limitation in the forum software in regard to PNGs.Gif and jpg are the ones that work at this time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil P Posted March 28, 2004 Author Share Posted March 28, 2004 PNG can basically be used as the GIF-killer (only exception is animation; that is what MNG is for). Its not a replacement for JPEG (JPEG is lossy, if you use a PNG for a picture the file size will be HUGE), but as the w3's spec page on PNG (ok, its not the actual spec page, that is here) says, its "an extensible file format for the lossless, portable, well-compressed storage of raster images. PNG provides a patent-free replacement for GIF and can also replace many common uses of TIFF."So basically...PNG's are a viable replacement for GIF's, as many browsers support them.Check the first link for quite a few more links; PNG's "Home Page", as it were, is hereNote to anyone who cares: I adapted this post from a very similar one I made on MozillaZine. PNG was just discussed over there too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LilBambi Posted March 29, 2004 Share Posted March 29, 2004 Yep, PNGs are great ... I make them all the time in The Gimp! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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