--- title: "PNG (PNG file): meaning and marketplace rules | Herofab" description: "A lossless image format that keeps every pixel exactly and can store transparency. It suits cut-outs, graphics and text, and makes photographs heavy." url: https://herofab.app/glossary/png language: en updated: 2026-11-06 --- # PNG A lossless image format that keeps every pixel exactly and can store transparency. It suits cut-outs, graphics and text, and makes photographs heavy. Also called **PNG file** · **PNG format** With Herofab [Remove background](https://herofab.app/tools/background-remover) ![Ecru T-shirt as a ghost mannequin image on white](https://herofab.app/img/ex/ecru-tee-ghost-1100.webp) Made with Herofab · Ghost mannequin PNG comes in two kinds. A full-colour PNG stores every colour the photo holds; a palette PNG keeps a short list of colours to make the file lighter. Some export presets and online compressors switch to the palette kind without saying so. On a product photo this shows as stepped bands in shadows, gradients and folds of fabric, so the full-colour kind is the one to keep for photographs. For a photo of a product on a solid background, PNG is often several times heavier than a JPEG that looks the same, and the extra weight can push the file over an upload limit. Where PNG earns its place is in images with text and hard edges, such as size charts and care-label graphics, and in cut-outs that have to stay transparent. Shop systems differ in which of the two formats they recommend for product photos. A PNG is lossless only from the moment it is saved. A photo that was a compressed JPEG before keeps its blocks and blurred edges when it is saved again as PNG; the file just gets heavier. Converting to PNG therefore never repairs an image, and the source for a PNG should be the original photo or a lossless working file. ## PNG, answered. **How do I make a PNG product photo smaller without losing quality?** Run it through a lossless optimiser, which repacks the same pixels more tightly without changing any of them. Removing an alpha channel that holds no transparency and stripping unused metadata trims a little more. For a photograph on a solid background, a high-quality JPEG remains the far lighter file, and a compressor that switches to a palette of colours is not lossless at all. **Does a PNG keep the colour profile of my photo?** It can, because PNG has room for an embedded colour profile, but many web export presets and optimisers leave it out to save weight. A PNG without a profile is read as sRGB, which is harmless for an sRGB photo and shifts the colours of one in a wider space. Converting to sRGB before saving as PNG makes the file look the same whether the profile survives or not. ## What marketplaces say about it. Updated 25 September 2026 - **Shopify:** PNG is the best file type for most product images, followed by JPEG; TIFF, BMP, GIF, SVG, HEIC and WebP are also accepted [Official page](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/products/product-media/product-media-types) - **Big Cartel:** .jpg, .gif and .png; .png files are recommended for optimal image quality [Official page](https://www.bigcartel.com/resources/help/article/add-a-product) - **OpenCart:** JPEG, PNG and GIF are the supported formats; JPEG is recommended for photos and PNG for graphics [Official page](https://docs.opencart.com/admin-interface/overview/products/product-form-tabs) - **ABOUT YOU:** JPEG up to 2 MB (white or grey background); PNG up to 4 MB (transparent background) [Official page](https://docs.partner.aboutyou.com/user-guide/product-image-requirements) - **Jimdo:** Photos should be saved as JPEG; logos, infographics and images with a lot of text as PNG, with 24 bit recommended over 8 bit [Official page](https://help.jimdo.com/hc/en-us/articles/115005538746-How-big-should-my-images-be) Related [Remove background](https://herofab.app/tools/background-remover) · [Cut-out image](https://herofab.app/glossary/cut-out) · [Pure white background](https://herofab.app/glossary/pure-white-background) · [All terms](https://herofab.app/glossary/) Free tools [Product photo checker](https://herofab.app/tools/product-photo-checker) [Marketplace image resizer](https://herofab.app/tools/marketplace-image-resizer) [Image compressor](https://herofab.app/tools/image-compressor) [AI image label checker](https://herofab.app/tools/ai-image-checker)