PNG: The Definitive Guide

Front Cover
O'Reilly, 1999 - Computers - 321 pages

PNG (Portable Network Graphics) is the next-generation graphics file format for the Web. Designed as an open-source format to replace the proprietary GIF format, PNG is better, smaller, more extensible, andfree. Already supported by major software like Macromedia Fireworks, Adobe Photoshop, and Microsoft Office, as well as Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer, PNG is an elegant and feature-rich image format that has finally achieved broad industry support.

PNG: The Definitive Guideaddresses the needs of both graphic designers who want to get the most out of the format and programmers who want to add full PNG support to their own applications.

In the "Using PNG" section, Roelofs covers Web browsers and servers, image viewers, image editors, image converters, and 3D applications, with particular attention to the level of PNG support in each. In the "Design of PNG" section, he includes detailed information on compression and filtering, gamma correction and precision color, PNG options and extensions. In the "Programming PNG" section, he steps through three sample programs that implement PNG with the libpng C library.

PNG: The Definitive Guideis the first book devoted exclusively to teaching and documenting this important new image format. It is an indispensable compendium for Web content developers and programmers and is chock full of examples, sample code, and practical hands-on advice.

From inside the book

Contents

An Introduction to PNG
3
Applications WWW Browsers and Servers
29
Applications Image Viewers
45
Copyright

16 other sections not shown

Common terms and phrases

About the author (1999)

Greg Roelofs is a senior researcher at Philips Electronics, specializing in compression, graphics, 3D, and audio software. He helped design the PNG image format, maintains its official web site, and writes free software in his spare time. Greg holds a doctorate in astrophysics from the University of Chicago.

Bibliographic information