A reader wrote concerned that .png files might be on their way out. “I did the Win10 thing from 8.1. I am MAINLY a Mozilla user. When 10 was installing something about .png images was removed. I am not sure what happened. My buddy who does image work uses .png on his 8.1 so I asked him to send me on in that format. I could see it in Mozilla as a .jpeg & on I.E. it showed up as a .png. So, what happened? He uses Mozilla as well. As all of his work consists of .png, hopefully, you can clue me in. Is png on its way out?
The .png file extension stands for Portable Network Graphic. It’s a lossless image compression format and came about as a replacement for GIFs. It’s far from being on its way out, it’s one of the most popular ways to display images on the Internet.
From your question, I’m not sure if you’re uploading these images to the Internet or just viewing in an email. If you’re uploading to a site, one reason a PNG file might be changed to a .jpg file when you upload it, is that it’s too large for the site you’re trying to upload to. When this happens sometimes an image is converted to the smaller .jpg file. Check the size limitations for the site you’re trying to upload to. Don’t forget to check both the dimensions and the file size.
If the file is coming via an email, try right-clicking and saving. If it’s a .PNG file, it should save to your hard drive as a .PNG file. Then try opening in an image editing program like Paint.
I’ve used .PNG files in Windows 10 without an issue, so I don’t think that’s the root of the problem.
~ Cynthia