Is the web ready for png's now?
I was just thinking... now that we have IE7 with proper support for alpha transparency is there any reason that we shouldn't be using png's for our graphics? I know IE6 still has a large percentage but I don't think that's going to be around for long, and IE6 users have very little reason not to upgrade especially since it's being included in windows update.
Personally I'm using png's where possible now but still avoiding alpha transparency if I can help it. What do you all think to the situation?
Andy
Busy posted this at 20:44 — 6th December 2006.
He has: 6,151 posts
Joined: May 2001
I've been hearing a lot of people don't like IE7 and are uninstalling it soon after download.
I keep putting off the download because of the size, only 14.8mb but on dialup thats massive.
IMO if you use the png transparency maybe add a note on the site stating your using the latest browser standards (not best viewed with), so as not to make you look bad in your design in older browsers.
Megan posted this at 14:25 — 7th December 2006.
She has: 11,421 posts
Joined: Jun 1999
And, as I mentioned in another thread, a lot of enterprise level online tools aren't ready for 7 so some companies are telling people not to upgrade until those are fixed (bastard non standards compliant crap!).
I'm glad to hear people aren't liking it - that was my predicion in the first place. What a great time to encourage people to try something else
Megan
Connect with us on Facebook!
timjpriebe posted this at 20:54 — 6th December 2006.
He has: 2,667 posts
Joined: Dec 2004
Personally, on most sites I do, I'll probably wait until 7.0 accounts for 75% or so if the IE users out there. Just a rough estimate, and there may be exceptions (Firefox fan club or something like that), but for me, 75% tends to be the magic number on adoption of anything like that.
My personal recommendation is to never put "Best viewed with..." or "Using latest browser standards..." My opinion is that they're both just as bad. But I completely respect Busy's opinion. And disagree.
Tim
http://www.tandswebdesign.com
teammatt3 posted this at 01:22 — 7th December 2006.
He has: 2,102 posts
Joined: Sep 2003
Noob question here, but why would you want to use a PNG over a plain old GIF?
Renegade posted this at 02:54 — 7th December 2006.
He has: 3,022 posts
Joined: Oct 2002
Two main points to use .png over .gif:
1, Better image quality
2, Better support for transparency
When done right, file sizes are smaller too. Those are just a few points off the top of my head but I'm sure there are a lot more than that
timjpriebe posted this at 04:00 — 7th December 2006.
He has: 2,667 posts
Joined: Dec 2004
With PNG, you can have partial transparency. One use would be less pixelation on the edge of images with a transparent background.
This page has a nice example of what I'm talking about:
http://solardreamstudios.com/_img/learn/fireworks/8-bit-alpha/8-bit-alpha.html
Tim
http://www.tandswebdesign.com
Neutron2k posted this at 09:36 — 7th December 2006.
He has: 113 posts
Joined: Jul 2005
IE7 will not replace IE6 anytime soon. IE7 is XP only, and theres still a high percentage of Windows 98/ME owners out there. You should continue to support IE6 for an undetermined amount of time is my advice. I am still supporting it and will do for at least another year yet.
Megan posted this at 14:18 — 7th December 2006.
She has: 11,421 posts
Joined: Jun 1999
IE 7 is way too far off right now to be dropping IE 6. HOwever, you can and should test PNG's for non-alpha transparency graphics. I find it works well for things that would be gif's but have graidents that make that format difficult to optimize for.
Liam has some javascript that allows for transparent pngs' to work in IE 6. If i remember I'll tell him to post it here, or you can take a look at This site. That white veritcal menu that goes over the flower is a transparent png.
Megan
Connect with us on Facebook!
Want to join the discussion? Create an account or log in if you already have one. Joining is fast, free and painless! We’ll even whisk you back here when you’ve finished.