PNG Filter for IE on Win32

UberLord · Jan 18, 2003, 03:31 PM

If you use PNG images over say GIF images and really hated when IE on Windows doesn't support the alpha channel (for transparent backgrounds)?

Well, panic no more. DriverHeaven is running a special filtering javascript that filters all IMG tags pointing to a PNG file through a DirectX control so that transparencies work with IE 5.5 or higher

Credit where credit is due. Thanks goto the guys at WebFX for the initial solution. I couldn't get their .htc file to work for anyone but me, so I wrote this little javascript instead.

I've put it under the LGPL, so feel free to use it on your own websites at no charge. If you can make any improvements to the code, then email them to me at uberlord@driverheaven.net or post them here!

Download the JavaScript file here

Use the follow code in your script to reference it

Code:

<script type="text/javascript" language="javascript" src="ieWin32_png_filter.js">
    <!-- Forces IE to display PNG images through DirectX -->
</script>

ToshiroOC · Jan 20, 2003, 11:16 AM

Though I know I personally won't have much use for it, I just want to thank Uberlord for releasing it under the LGPL - its pretty important to keep things freely available

UberLord · Jan 20, 2003, 11:57 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by ToshiroOC
Though I know I personally won't have much use for it, I just want to thank Uberlord for releasing it under the LGPL - its pretty important to keep things freely available

I see no point in charging for it. And I'd much rather promote PNG - which is patent free - over GIF which isn't and costs.

Besides, if anyone can improve on my code then they're more than welcome to

Vampyromaniac · Jan 20, 2003, 12:23 PM

I liked the quality of PNG when I first saw it, but nobody seems to use it . . .

Also, great scripting, man

UberLord · Jan 20, 2003, 03:49 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Vampyromaniac
I liked the quality of PNG when I first saw it, but nobody seems to use it . . .

Me 2 - hopefully people can start using PNG's now

However, JavaScript is required and some peeps disable it completely.
I'd still prefer MS to fix bloody IE though

Quote:

Also, great scripting, man

I really like my ego being stroked - thats why I'm a developer

Malus · Jan 20, 2003, 07:31 PM

A lot of people prefer .gif because they have a smaller filesize. Personally, I think the .png's are pretty nice though.

Zardon · Jan 20, 2003, 07:32 PM

gif are limited to 256 colours. which is why PNG has such a benefit.

UberLord · Jan 20, 2003, 07:32 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Malus
A lot of people prefer .gif because they have a smaller filesize. Personally, I think the .png's are pretty nice though.

Odd. All my PNG images bar 2 have smaller filesizes than GIF

Jeff · Jan 20, 2003, 08:53 PM

PNG also has lossless compression, and MNG has animation, PNG/MNG is just a heck of a lot better than all other single-layer graphic formats. (Aside from vector images)

UberLord · Jan 21, 2003, 12:44 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Cyborg
PNG also has lossless compression

I thought that GIF was lossless compression?

ToshiroOC · Jan 21, 2003, 12:56 AM

It is, but only for 256 bit I think...

Jeff · Jan 21, 2003, 01:31 AM

Its not completely lossless, because of the way it has to dither it to 256 colors.

Malus · Jan 21, 2003, 01:47 AM

Actually, I'm mistaken. I'm thinking about JPEG vs 24-bit PNG. There is an 8-bit PNG which is probably comparable to the GIF format. 24-bit PNGs are really big though.

Jeff · Jan 21, 2003, 02:04 AM

not as big as you'd think, i'm using a 32-bit 189 x 355 PNG on my site, which works out to 9.3kb, full color, with alpha layer...

Malus · Jan 21, 2003, 02:09 AM

Really? Last time I used it, I was getting 100k+ files when I converted PSD which had a size of only 256x256 pixels.

UberLord · Jan 21, 2003, 11:14 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Malus
Really? Last time I used it, I was getting 100k+ files when I converted PSD which had a size of only 256x256 pixels.

Depends on which program you use really.
PSP 6 on Win32 which I sometimes use @ work produces PNG files about twice as big as say The GIMP on Linux.

Jeff · Jan 21, 2003, 05:36 PM

I find PS7 does a good job of them, didn't ever try it with older versions of PS>

Jan 18, 2003, 03:31 PM	#1
UberLord A Legend in Underwear Join Date: May 2002 Location: Unknown Posts: 5,255 Rep Power: 70	PNG Filter for IE on Win32 If you use PNG images over say GIF images and really hated when IE on Windows doesn't support the alpha channel (for transparent backgrounds)? Well, panic no more. DriverHeaven is running a special filtering javascript that filters all IMG tags pointing to a PNG file through a DirectX control so that transparencies work with IE 5.5 or higher Credit where credit is due. Thanks goto the guys at WebFX for the initial solution. I couldn't get their .htc file to work for anyone but me, so I wrote this little javascript instead. I've put it under the LGPL, so feel free to use it on your own websites at no charge. If you can make any improvements to the code, then email them to me at uberlord@driverheaven.net or post them here! Download the JavaScript file here Use the follow code in your script to reference it Code: <script type="text/javascript" language="javascript" src="ieWin32_png_filter.js"> <!-- Forces IE to display PNG images through DirectX --> </script> __________________ Gentoo Linux - Developer (baselayout) Read my blog "I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours." Stephen Roberts

Jan 20, 2003, 11:16 AM	#2
ToshiroOC Unbiased. Join Date: Jun 2002 Posts: 4,812 Rep Power: 0	Though I know I personally won't have much use for it, I just want to thank Uberlord for releasing it under the LGPL - its pretty important to keep things freely available __________________ [img][/img] [color=White]Peace be with you, Joe.[/color] Driverheaven Staff Member (Supermoderator)

Jan 20, 2003, 07:31 PM	#6
Malus BSD SMASH! Join Date: May 2002 Location: A rabbit hole. . . Posts: 1,170 Rep Power: 0	A lot of people prefer .gif because they have a smaller filesize. Personally, I think the .png's are pretty nice though. __________________ quad (FreeBSD/amd64 8-CURRENT): Intel Q6600 - Asus P5E-VM HDMI - 2x2 GB Kingston PC6400 DDR2 Ram - Seagate 320GB 7200RPM HD - 2xSeagate 1TB 7200RPM HD in RAID 1 via ZFS - Lite-On 20x DVD Multi Recorder - Coolermaster Centurion 5 router (FreeBSD/amd64 8-CURRENT): Intel E4500 - Intel D945GCNL - 2 GB PC6400 Mushkin Ram - Lite-On 48x24x48x16 - Seagate 320GB 7200RPM HD - Silverstone SST-SG02-F wanderer (FreeBSD/i386 7-CURRENT): Lenovo Thinkpad T61p mini (OS X 10.5): Intel Core 2 Duo @ 1.8Ghz, 4 GB Mushkin PC5400 Ram - Headroom MicroDAC Portable sound: Rockboxed iPod Video -> Westone UM2's Not-So-Portable Sound: Headroon MicroDAC -> Singlepower PPX3-SLAM -> Grado RS-1's or Beyerdynamic DT-880's Very-Not-Portable-Sound: Squeezebox v3 -> Denon AVR-1507 -> B&W 683's & Sunfire HRS-10

Jan 20, 2003, 08:53 PM	#9
Jeff Yarr... I be blind! Join Date: May 2002 Location: Calgary, Canada Posts: 3,190 Rep Power: 74	PNG also has lossless compression, and MNG has animation, PNG/MNG is just a heck of a lot better than all other single-layer graphic formats. (Aside from vector images) __________________

Jan 21, 2003, 12:56 AM	#11
ToshiroOC Unbiased. Join Date: Jun 2002 Posts: 4,812 Rep Power: 0	It is, but only for 256 bit I think... __________________ [img][/img] [color=White]Peace be with you, Joe.[/color] Driverheaven Staff Member (Supermoderator)

Jan 20, 2003, 12:23 PM	#4
Vampyromaniac confutatis maledictis Join Date: May 2002 Location: somewhere dark Posts: 5,974 Rep Power: 74 System Specs	I liked the quality of PNG when I first saw it, but nobody seems to use it . . . Also, great scripting, man

Jan 20, 2003, 07:32 PM	#7
Zardon DriverHeaven Founder Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 32,480 Rep Power: 177	gif are limited to 256 colours. which is why PNG has such a benefit.

Jan 21, 2003, 01:31 AM	#12
Jeff Yarr... I be blind! Join Date: May 2002 Location: Calgary, Canada Posts: 3,190 Rep Power: 74	Its not completely lossless, because of the way it has to dither it to 256 colors. __________________

Jan 21, 2003, 01:47 AM	#13
Malus BSD SMASH! Join Date: May 2002 Location: A rabbit hole. . . Posts: 1,170 Rep Power: 0	Actually, I'm mistaken. I'm thinking about JPEG vs 24-bit PNG. There is an 8-bit PNG which is probably comparable to the GIF format. 24-bit PNGs are really big though. __________________ quad (FreeBSD/amd64 8-CURRENT): Intel Q6600 - Asus P5E-VM HDMI - 2x2 GB Kingston PC6400 DDR2 Ram - Seagate 320GB 7200RPM HD - 2xSeagate 1TB 7200RPM HD in RAID 1 via ZFS - Lite-On 20x DVD Multi Recorder - Coolermaster Centurion 5 router (FreeBSD/amd64 8-CURRENT): Intel E4500 - Intel D945GCNL - 2 GB PC6400 Mushkin Ram - Lite-On 48x24x48x16 - Seagate 320GB 7200RPM HD - Silverstone SST-SG02-F wanderer (FreeBSD/i386 7-CURRENT): Lenovo Thinkpad T61p mini (OS X 10.5): Intel Core 2 Duo @ 1.8Ghz, 4 GB Mushkin PC5400 Ram - Headroom MicroDAC Portable sound: Rockboxed iPod Video -> Westone UM2's Not-So-Portable Sound: Headroon MicroDAC -> Singlepower PPX3-SLAM -> Grado RS-1's or Beyerdynamic DT-880's Very-Not-Portable-Sound: Squeezebox v3 -> Denon AVR-1507 -> B&W 683's & Sunfire HRS-10

Jan 21, 2003, 02:04 AM	#14
Jeff Yarr... I be blind! Join Date: May 2002 Location: Calgary, Canada Posts: 3,190 Rep Power: 74	not as big as you'd think, i'm using a 32-bit 189 x 355 PNG on my site, which works out to 9.3kb, full color, with alpha layer... __________________

Jan 21, 2003, 02:09 AM	#15
Malus BSD SMASH! Join Date: May 2002 Location: A rabbit hole. . . Posts: 1,170 Rep Power: 0	Really? Last time I used it, I was getting 100k+ files when I converted PSD which had a size of only 256x256 pixels. __________________ quad (FreeBSD/amd64 8-CURRENT): Intel Q6600 - Asus P5E-VM HDMI - 2x2 GB Kingston PC6400 DDR2 Ram - Seagate 320GB 7200RPM HD - 2xSeagate 1TB 7200RPM HD in RAID 1 via ZFS - Lite-On 20x DVD Multi Recorder - Coolermaster Centurion 5 router (FreeBSD/amd64 8-CURRENT): Intel E4500 - Intel D945GCNL - 2 GB PC6400 Mushkin Ram - Lite-On 48x24x48x16 - Seagate 320GB 7200RPM HD - Silverstone SST-SG02-F wanderer (FreeBSD/i386 7-CURRENT): Lenovo Thinkpad T61p mini (OS X 10.5): Intel Core 2 Duo @ 1.8Ghz, 4 GB Mushkin PC5400 Ram - Headroom MicroDAC Portable sound: Rockboxed iPod Video -> Westone UM2's Not-So-Portable Sound: Headroon MicroDAC -> Singlepower PPX3-SLAM -> Grado RS-1's or Beyerdynamic DT-880's Very-Not-Portable-Sound: Squeezebox v3 -> Denon AVR-1507 -> B&W 683's & Sunfire HRS-10

Jan 21, 2003, 05:36 PM	#17
Jeff Yarr... I be blind! Join Date: May 2002 Location: Calgary, Canada Posts: 3,190 Rep Power: 74	I find PS7 does a good job of them, didn't ever try it with older versions of PS> __________________