APNG Assembler

Content on social networks nowadays focuses on short clips and animations, since they seem to have an efficient method of delivering news of all kinds. There are also animations built from multiple pictures, with some popular formats already supporting animations, such as PNG. As such, APNG Assembler is the type of app with which to create PNG animations.

First things first, the application isn’t packed inside an installer, so you can see what it can do for you as soon as download is done. This also means that you can have it stored on a USB flash drive along with some project files in case you want to create animations regardless of the computer you’re working on.

As far as the interface is concerned, things look minimalistic, with classic window elements used in the design. All files you add get enlisted in a table with column headers for frame, size, and delay in seconds. You’re free to remove items you decide you no longer want to use, and even set delay for a particular frame from the associated context menu.

Note, however, that the order of files is incredibly important. Unfortunately, the application doesn’t let you adjust them in the list once added, so it’s a good idea to either alphabetically rename pictures before adding them, or insert items one-by-one. The output also needs to be configured in terms of location and filename.

There aren’t plenty of options to work with, but they’re enough for what is delivered to you. It’s possible to define the number of playback loops, which can also be left to play indefinitely. Transition delay can either be set for all items at once, or individually. Last but not least, compressions settings let you pick the method, which can be zlib, 7zip, or Zopfli, as well as optimization.

To sum it up, APNG Assembler is a pretty straightforward application, but manages to achieve its goal. You can easily build PNG animation files from multiple items, with options to set individual delay, compression method, and even playback loops.