PNG to WebP for GitHub READMEs: Smaller Screenshots, Faster Docs

A great README with screenshots loads fast — a great README with uncompressed screenshots loads like a slideshow. PNG screenshots are the usual suspect: a single 4K editor screenshot can be several megabytes, and a README with five of them turns your project's front page into a bandwidth test. GitHub renders WebP in READMEs just fine, so converting those screenshots is one of the cheapest documentation upgrades you can make.

Why screenshots bloat so fast

Screenshots of code, terminals, and UIs are mostly flat colors and sharp edges — exactly the content PNG compresses worst. Screenshots with photographic content (browser demos, video frames) compress even worse.…