By all means use dithered images on your website for stylistic reasons, but do not use them simply because dithering produces a slightly smaller PNG file.
First of all, no discussion of minimizing PNG sizes is complete without `pngcrush` which applies all kinds of optimizations to the PNG file (losslessly). In fact pngcrush reduces the author's 48kb dithered file down to 28kb.
And secondly, modern compression formats like webp and avif will blow PNG out of the water when compressing any kind of photographic image. Heck, just turn down your JPG quality, and your image will be much smaller, and still perfectly recognizable.
Know when to use the right tool for the job:
PNG -> diagrams, charts, anything with perfectly uniform areas of color and sharp transitions.
JPG/AVIF -> photos, anything with smooth variations in color.
First of all, no discussion of minimizing PNG sizes is complete without `pngcrush` which applies all kinds of optimizations to the PNG file (losslessly). In fact pngcrush reduces the author's 48kb dithered file down to 28kb.
And secondly, modern compression formats like webp and avif will blow PNG out of the water when compressing any kind of photographic image. Heck, just turn down your JPG quality, and your image will be much smaller, and still perfectly recognizable.
Know when to use the right tool for the job:
PNG -> diagrams, charts, anything with perfectly uniform areas of color and sharp transitions.
JPG/AVIF -> photos, anything with smooth variations in color.