What does PNG mean in photography?

Question

what does PNG mean. I was recently dropped from my photo class by my instructor. I had to submit 10 photos in black in white but didn't know how in my laptop so I send them to my self through Gmail to my phone to do so. Then send them back to my laptop but for some reason 3 of them said PNG so my instructor dropped me saying that it came from web because it say PNG. I have original photos my camera, memory card everything but he didn't want to see my work. What does PNG mean ? I worked so hard it was my work.

Answer 1

.PNG is one of many image file formats. It was created to replace the .GIF format which was found to be covered by patents at one time.





If you have used any image editing software with the pictures, it would give you a choice of what file format to save them in.



It may be that it defaults to .png if you save the file under a new name rather than just saving over the original file, or you just hit a wrong option without realising it.





If the teacher did not clearly specify a particular image format then the format you submitted them in should not matter & it should certainly not be a reason to drop you from the course.



Go back to the teacher and remind him you are taking photography not information technology - an error moving images between devices does not affect your ability to take photographs.



As you say you have the originals as evidence, if he still refuses to let you back on the course complain to the principal - he's not acting in a reasonable manner.





Note that it may be that the transferring (and editing?) messed up the metadata in the files.





The original .jpg files from the camera contain information on the camera used & it's settings etc., fdate & time and with smartphones and some newer cameras even the GPS coordinates they were taken at.



That is a way of verifying the authenticity and ownership of image files. Editing the images can remove that data, especially if the files are saved to a different format.



Anyone who will listen to your complaint can check the original images on the camera to verify you did take them - which the teacher could have done if he were bothered.





If the teacher did check the info in the files and found multiple different sources, he would believe he was justified in excluding you.

Answer 2

That doesn't seem right that your instructor would drop you for this rather than explain. Ask your instructor to explain how they want them submitted because they owe you that. Everyone does things a different way. I would save out photos as maximum quality JPEGs.



PNG files are used in web design because they support transparent backgrounds (think icons, anything round or shaped not within a square). They load quickly and remain in good quality depending on how you save them. Photos can look okay as PNGs, it's just not the proper way you would do it in most situations. You actually would if it's a photo for a web design such as a banner that needs to be sliced, if there is any overlapping or objects breaking out of the "box" shape that need transparent-background elements. Not to be confusing, just that your instructor shouldn't be acting like you did something so wrong. They need to explain. Maybe they think because you emailed them to yourself, that you stole the photos or just took them off of Google when you were supposed to take them yourself? Show that you took them yourself!

Answer 3

PNG means Portable Network Graphics.



Which means they are files downloaded from the internet.

Answer 4

An image can be saved in Photoshop in PNG format, so your instructor is not up to date. Perhaps you should go see his/her boss (dept. director) and explain the situation. I save stuff to PNG format often if I want it to be lossless and am posting it for others to use, e.g. a Wikipedia shot.



The facts that your instructor does not know this, refused to listen to your explanation and kicked you out of the course bodes badly for his/her competence. Go see the boss.

Answer 5

Portable Network Graphics. It's what internet files are saved as.