Amy Cham (@amycham) posted this over in Drupalchix and I thought it was a good thing for the TNT group to be aware of, especially if like me you're using Acquia Marina.
This article describes making 8bit PNG files with multiple semi-transparent colors in the alpha channel instead of just one color. Apparently these look just as good in modern browsers as full 32-bit PNGs, although they're quite a bit smaller. Under IE6, no tricks are needed as with PNG32s, because IE6 doesn't recognize the semi-transparent bits. It just doesn't render them at all. Which could mean IE6 users see alittle more jagged edges, but the tradeoff might be worth it for performance.
http://www.sitepoint.com/blogs/2007/09/18/png8-the-clear-winner/
I'd be curious to know if any of you have tried 8-bit PNGs in a theme and what your experience was.
Jennifer
(@jrdixey)
Comments
Incredible
Whoa! Thank you for posting this, I can't believe I hadn't seen it before. This opens so many doors!
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Just wanted to add my two
Just wanted to add my two cents. The post makes great sense. In fact, I've done this many times on my personal sites. But, in a lot of instances, with the color schemes I'm using and the mix/blend of color/transparency desired, I found that true png32's work best. But, this is just in my situation. One particular site I'm developing now; I want absolute perfection. Using the png8's did produce a very small amount of that ugly jagged that I hate. Yes, png32's are much fatter, but not really to a point where it degrades performance... unless it's a very graphics-intense page. For me, space is unlimited, as is bandwidth... so as long as I keep the overall page under a certain point, I think png32's are best for me.
But again, this is just my situation. Never-the-less, the post is very good and is totally correct: Using 8's can save a lot for the right person. For me, png32 all the way. Plus, I'm not supporting anything past IE7 at all; IE6 is dead in the water from my point, as well as most developers point. Anyone using IE6 is due for a huge update anyway. Not breaking my back to support one terrible, outdated, pathetic browser (heck, I don't even wanna support IE at all... but we all know that situation).
Good info though!!