Can PNG photos be uploaded to Facebook?

Uploading photos to Facebook is a great way to share memories and moments with friends and family. Facebook supports common image formats like JPG, GIF, PNG, BMP, TIFF and WEBP. So yes, it is possible to upload PNG photos to Facebook.

What is a PNG file?

PNG (Portable Network Graphics) is a popular image file format used for lossless image compression. PNG files are based on an open, patent-free format designed to replace the patented GIF format. Here are some key facts about PNG files:

PNGs support lossless data compression, meaning no image quality is lost when the file is compressed.

PNGs support 24-bit images and greyscale images with transparency.
PNG files are a web standard and are supported by all major web browsers.
PNGs are not suitable for photos as they don’t support CMYK color profiles. They are best for simple logos, icons, diagrams, text and images with solid colors.

Benefits of uploading PNG files to Facebook

Here are some benefits of using PNG images on Facebook:

Lossless compression preserves image quality – PNG compression algorithm reduces file size without degrading image quality, so your images stay crisp and clear.
Transparency support – PNGs can have transparent backgrounds which are great for logos, icons and graphics to blend into different color schemes on Facebook.

Small file sizes – PNG compression can significantly reduce file sizes compared to bitmap formats like BMP. This saves bandwidth when uploading and downloading images.
Web standard – PNG is fully supported by all major web browsers and platforms. Facebook also fully supports PNG images.

How to upload a PNG to Facebook

Uploading PNG files to Facebook is easy and straight-forward. Here are the steps:

Prepare your PNG image and resize it if needed.
Go to Facebook and create a new post or story.
Click on the Photo/Video button to add media.

Select your PNG image from your computer files.
Facebook will automatically compress and convert the PNG to JPG format.
Adjust post privacy, add captions and tags as required.

Click Post and your PNG image will be successfully uploaded.

The same process applies when changing your Facebook profile or cover photo, or when sending PNG files through Facebook messenger.

Facebook PNG image requirements

To ensure your PNG uploads to Facebook smoothly, it’s best to optimize your images to the recommended specifications:

Profile picture – 180 x 180 pixels, under 100KB file size
Cover photo – 820 x 312 pixels minimum, under 100KB file size
Shared images – less than 25MB recommended, aspect ratio no greater than 3:1

Keep your images within these limits for best results. Excessively large files may fail to upload or cause performance issues.

Does Facebook reduce PNG quality?

Yes, Facebook does slightly compress and reduce PNG image quality to optimize storage and performance. Here’s what happens when you upload a PNG file to Facebook:

Facebook automatically converts the PNG file to JPG format.

The JPG is optimized and compressed to reduce file size.
This compression leads to minor loss of image quality and precision.
The color palette is reduced from millions of colors to web-safe colors.

Transparency is removed as JPG does not support transparencies.

The image compression applied by Facebook is visually negligible in most cases. But the converted JPG won’t be an exact pixel-perfect match to the original. The compression focuses on reducing file size without excessive quality loss.

Tips for maintaining PNG quality on Facebook

Here are some tips to minimize PNG quality loss when uploading to Facebook:

Save PNGs with optimal settings – Use a specialized PNG encoder like PNGCrush or PNGOptimizer to optimize settings.
Export web-safe colors – Limit the color palette to 216 web-safe colors supported by JPGs.
Add metadata – Add metadata like title, description and copyright info that gets carried over to the converted JPG.

Resize before uploading – Resize oversized images to Facebook’s recommended dimensions before uploading.
Avoid excessive compression – Use the highest quality JPG settings if you have to convert the PNG yourself before uploading.
Link to original – If quality loss is too evident, upload to Facebook for sharing and link to original PNG hosted elsewhere.

Alternative free image hosts with PNG support

If maintaining PNG image quality is vital, you can upload your original PNG files to free image hosting sites that support PNG format. You can then link or embed those images into your Facebook posts and pages.

Here are some good options:

Site	Max. File Size	Key Features
Imgur	50MB	No compression, easy sharing integration
Flickr	200MB	1TB free storage, photo community features
TinyPNG	5MB	PNG-specific lossless compression
Photobucket	5MB	Direct Facebook uploads, group albums

Use these third-party hosts to share high-quality PNGs from Facebook without compressed conversions.

Should you convert PNGs before uploading to Facebook?

Pre-converting your PNG files to JPG before uploading to Facebook is an option if you want more control over the compression. Here are the pros and cons:

Pros	Cons
Avoid automatic Facebook compression Optimize JPG settings yourself Downsize oversized images	Extra time and effort to convert Need image editing software Still loses PNG transparency

For best control over image quality, pre-conversion makes sense. But for casual everyday uploads, letting Facebook handle it is easier.

Should you convert your PNGs to JPG for the web?

For websites and online use in general, JPG is the most widely supported format due to its compressed and web-optimized nature. Converting PNGs to JPG comes with trade-offs:

JPG pros	JPG cons
Much smaller file size Faster loading Universal browser support	Lossy compression Image quality degradation No transparency support

For simple logos, illustrations and general images, JPG is perfectly fine. But for high-quality illustrations and transparent images, PNG is still the better choice.

Conclusion

In summary, yes PNG files can certainly be uploaded and shared on Facebook. The platform fully supports PNG image format. However, Facebook does compress and convert PNGs to JPGs to optimize performance. This causes minor image quality loss. Pre-converting images yourself allows you to control quality settings better.

For minimal quality loss, use recommended dimensions and optimal PNG compression. For special images, use third-party hosts with PNG support and link back to Facebook. For most everyday images, Facebook’s automatic compression works fine. The convenience and reach of Facebook sharing outweighs the minor quality loss.