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, and free. 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 Guide addresses 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.