How do PNG and BMPcompare? Here's everything you need to know to choose the right format — and how to convert between them.
Portable Network Graphics
PNG is a lossless image format that supports transparency. It was created as an improved, non-patented replacement for GIF. PNG is ideal for graphics, logos, screenshots, and any image where quality preservation is critical.
Bitmap Image File
BMP is an uncompressed raster image format native to Windows. While it produces very large files, BMP preserves every pixel with zero quality loss, making it useful for raw image data and legacy applications.
| Specification | PNG | BMP |
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Portable Network Graphics | Bitmap Image File |
| Extension | .png | .bmp |
| MIME type | image/png | image/bmp |
| Category | Image | Image |
| Developer | PNG Development Group | Microsoft |
| Year introduced | 1996 | 1986 |
| Compression | Lossless | Lossless |
Both PNG and BMP have their strengths. PNG excels at website graphics and logos, while BMP is better for legacy windows applications.
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