PNGExtra – App Details

My app for optimizing PNG files is, in itself, an example of optimization. Don't be deceived by PNGExtra's dull, grey appearance because the app is tuned for efficiency and performance.

First Impressions of PNGExtra

Click on the thumbnail at right to see a screenshot of PNGExtra running on Windows 8. Compared to other pretty apps with nice colourful interfaces and cute animations, PNGExtra is like watching an old black and white movie!

While I'm not sure that my app will ever be considered a “classic” like some of those movies, I'd be happy for it to be thought of as a “trusty workhorse”.

No “Extras”

I programmed PNGExtra with a minimalist philosophy: It's the absolute minimum app that will do the job. It doesn't include an image viewer. It doesn't edit images. It doesn't catalogue images. It doesn't upload to websites. In short, it doesn't contain ANYTHING that you probably already have in other image or website software.

In keeping with my minimalist philosophy, I didn't want to be adding unnecessary extras to an app whose job was to remove extras!

PNGExtra does only ONE thing: It removes extras from PNG files – very quickly and very reliably. You can fire up PNGExtra in a split second, process any number of files with one or two mouse clicks and your job is done.

No Hidden Surprises

A lot of today's software contains “hidden surprises”. Some apps cause problems, either because of modifying your system or performing tasks in a non-standard manner. Other apps do questionable things, such as “phoning home” with your private details. Rest assured that PNGExtra contains no such hidden surprises:

❌ No Spying ❌ No Ads ❌ No Trojans ❌ No Phoning ❌ NO Worries!

History of PNGExtra

Inspiration and Development

Following the success of my JPGExtra App for optimizing JPG files, I once again set out to write an app that would similarly remove “extras” from PNG files.

Luckily, the PNG file format is fairly clear about what is “critical” and what are “extras”, so the app was a little easier to write. I still encountered some surprises during my testing (eg. images with transparency).

Original Version

My new program “PNGExtra” came into being on 12-Aug-2012.

Over time, I gradually developed and improved the app, testing it on thousands of files – including a large number of deliberately corrupt files. This ensured that it ran 100% reliably, that it handled “weird” formats and/or corruption, and that the resulting optimized PNG files were all written correctly and viewed identically to the originals.

Personal Usage

From 2012 to the present day I've made extensive use of this basic app for optimizing the PNG files for my own website – in particular my very popular Ian's Shoelace Site. JPGExtra has helped keep it lean and fast, enabling it to cope with much greater numbers of simultaneous visitors.

Sharing My Expertise

As I had done previously in 2006 with my then newly-developed JPGExtra app, I once again offered my new-found expertise to fellow knotting-website admin Alan Grogono, owner of the website Animated Knots by Grog. The results for his PNG files were similarly astounding – with some of the smaller images saving around 75%.

One Decade Later...

PNGExtra has had quite a few updates over the years, although mostly only minor enhancements. The most recent was in Jan-2025, which was simply to update the icons from black & white to full color.

I'd mentioned previously that I wanted to avoid adding unnecessary extras (like color icons) to my “minimalist” app. Sadly, it had become necessary because newer versions of Windows were having trouble with my original B&W icons. Indeed, my tiny app grew by about 50% due to those new icons – but I'm sure it still counts as “tiny”.

The End Result

Besides creating the smallest, fastest, most efficient PNG files, the PNGExtra app is itself an example of optimization. I believe that it's the smallest, fastest, most efficient PNG file optimization app available.