Saving PNG Files From Photoshop
Let’s compare the three — three!!! — totally separate ways to save PNG files in Photoshop.
① “Save for Web (Legacy)” is the classic interface we grew up on, and the only one that supports animated gif. (How legacy? They save as “Adobe ImageReady” files, discontinued in 2005 😅)
ImageReady was so good, much faster and easier to use than Photoshop for the types of operations it could handle.
② “Export As…” is the new, “modern” interface for saving files in Photoshop. “Modern” in this case means kind of a weird UI, and missing a lot of options and features. But it’s pretty zippy and doesn’t block your other windows like (Legacy) does.
③ “Save a Copy…” is the wildcard. I think it’s the only way to save a 16-bit PNG in Photoshop. And — oddly — this approach gives you three compression settings that “Export As…” does NOT have!?!?
I love “Save the smallest PNG from over a hundred possibilities!”.
These days when I want to save a PNG or JPEG I use Acorn.
See also: Adobe ImageReady 1.0.
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Acorn does not really support animated gifs. Photopea however is a very good alternative, it's like a free photoshop in browser and it has excellent export options.
ImageReady had best interface for that indeed.
I forgot about ImageReady! That was a very good tool back in the old days. I probably still have the CD in a box in the attic.
