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Image file stored in the Portable Network Graphic (PNG) format; contains a bitmap of indexed colors and uses lossless compression, similar to a .GIF file but without copyright limitations; commonly used to store graphics for Web images.

The PNG format was created in response to limitations with the GIF format, primarily to increase color support and to provide an image format without a patent license. Additionally, while GIF images only support fully opaque or fully transparent pixels, PNG images may include an 8-bit transparency channel, which allows the image colors to fade from opaque to transparent.