PNG

Abbreviation with 2 meanings

PNG
Stands forPortable Network Graphics
Meanings2
CategoriesTechnology & Computing, Geography & Places

PNG has two meanings. It stands for Portable Network Graphics (file format) or Papua New Guinea (country name).

Meanings of PNG at a glance

#PNG stands forContext
1Portable Network GraphicsTechnology & Computing › File Format
2Papua New GuineaGeography & Places › Country Name

1. Portable Network Graphics

Technology & Computing · File Format Abbreviations

Lossless image format that supports full transparency (an alpha channel), making it the standard for screenshots, logos, icons, diagrams and web graphics with sharp edges or text. Photos saved as PNG are much larger than JPEGs.

Example: Save the logo as a PNG with a transparent background so it sits cleanly on any color.

PNG was created in 1995 to 1996 as a patent-free replacement for GIF after Unisys began enforcing its LZW compression patent; it became a W3C Recommendation in 1996. The informal backronym "PNG's Not GIF" reflects this history. It uses DEFLATE compression, the same as ZIP files. Pronounced "ping" according to the specification. A 2025 third edition of the standard formally added animation (APNG) and HDR support.

2. Papua New Guinea

Geography & Places · Country Name Abbreviations

Pacific nation on the eastern half of New Guinea and nearby islands, independent from Australia since September 16, 1975. Port Moresby is the capital, and with about 840 living languages PNG is the most linguistically diverse country on Earth.

Example: The ferry to the outer islands of PNG runs twice a week.

PNG is also the ISO alpha-3 code (alpha-2 PG, domain .pg). Tok Pisin, Hiri Motu, English and PNG Sign Language are official languages. In computing PNG is the Portable Network Graphics image format, so context separates the two.

More file format abbreviations

  • OTF – OpenType Font
  • PDF – Portable Document Format
  • PDF/A – Portable Document Format for Archiving
  • PKG – Package installer file
  • PPT – Microsoft PowerPoint presentation (legacy binary format)
  • PPTX – Office Open XML presentation
  • PS – PostScript
  • PSD – Photoshop Document

See all 125 file format abbreviations →

More country name abbreviations

  • GB – Great Britain
  • GDR – German Democratic Republic
  • KSA – Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
  • NI – Northern Ireland
  • PRC – People's Republic of China
  • RMI – Republic of the Marshall Islands
  • ROC – Republic of China
  • ROI – Republic of Ireland

See all 30 country name abbreviations →

Edited by the AbbreviationList.com team. Spotted an error or a missing meaning? Contact us.