LibreOffice Lands APNG Export Support

Future LibreOffice releases will finally better handle animated PNG (APNG) files. After initial import support was added back in June, merged this week was initial export support for APNG files.

Being worked on by Paris Oplopoios as part of ths year's Google Summer of Code is APNG import/export support for the LibreOffice open-source office suite. The GSoC description reads, "APNG (Animated PNG) is an animated format backwards compatible with PNG. It is supported by all the major browsers and has benefits over GIF such as partial transparency and support for more colors. The goal of this project is to integrate APNG support in LibreOffice, which had been requested for quite some time."

Being merged in June was basic APNG format support with several fixes since that point for handling animated PNG files within LibreOffice Impress slideshows.

Merged on Friday meanwhile as we approach the end of summer is initial APNG export support.

Support for animated PNGs within LibreOffice has seen feature requests going back years. The only unfortunate aspect is this addition misses out on the imminent LibreOffice 7.6 release but rather will premiere in the free software office suite's next release.