Using SVG to Shrink Your PNGs
Peter Hrynkow - Vancouver Tech Leader
Using SVG to Shrink Your PNGs launched on January 22, 2015 with 217 votes, #53 of 1,772 launches that month and more than 99% of that year's launches. The site was still online in September 2026, 11 years on.
In plain words
This article explains a technique for reducing PNG file sizes by combining a JPEG with an alpha mask PNG layer. The method allows designers to achieve JPEG-level compression while maintaining transparency, useful for web projects requiring both small file sizes and transparent areas. The author demonstrates the approach with a beer can graphic that was reduced from 1.2 MB to 271 KB using this layering strategy.
written from the facts on this page · September 2026
From the sources
Wouldn’t it be great if you could get the compression of a JPEG with the transparency of a PNG? You can, with a little layering trick I used while working on the new Sapporo Beer website. Notice how the beer can has a transparent area around the edges (there’s a video playing behind it). As a single PNG, the can graphic weighed in at over 1.2 MB. The trick below brought it down to 271 KB without giving up transparency. First, create two files. The first is a regular JPEG without any transparency; you can compress it aggressively. The second is a tiny 8-bit PNG (alpha mask) that represents the transparent areas. The PNG is only 11 KB because it contains so few colors and no blended…from peterhrynkow.com
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