Requested Capture Screenshot should have an 8-bit png option

[user9733]

Options Capture Screenshot should have a save as 8-bit png option.

As we all know, 32-bit and 24-bit png are huge files compared to jpg.
But we also know that jpg files look like crap,
and if you resave them to edit them over and over they become jpeg artifacts.
8-bit png still looks good but is still a small file size.
PAINT.NET in particular is able to do this.

So I hope irfanview has an option to save screenshots as 8-bit png's soon.

[Bhikkhu Pesala]

Not everyone knows that 32-bit and 24-bit PNG files are often smaller and sharper than JPG images — it very much depends on the image data.

Typically, screen shots of interface elements such as toolbars and dialogues turn out to be smaller when saved as PNG images, while photographic images with many colours are best saved in the JPG format. WebP format images are often even smaller for the same quality, though not all browsers support them.

There already is an option to save PNG images in different colour depths using the PNGOUT plugin. This is rather slow compared to the normal save, but you can reduce the number of passes to speed up the process, and still get a small file size.

I don't use it much, so I just use the Auto setting. I never use IrfanView's screen capture feature because FastStone Capture does a better job.

[Mij]

If I want to capture in 8-bit format I just use GIF.

I have never tried it but I imagine you could write a script (batch) file using Irfanview's - /capture /bpp /convert Command line options to capture and save automatically in any of the formats or bit depths that are supported, which includes PNG and 8-bit. Launch it by clicking a shortcut on your desktop or assign a shortcut keystroke to it.