Image+Formats

=Image Formats = JPG, GIF, TIFF, and PNG. What are they, and how do you choose? These and many other file types are used to encode digital images. When you know the advantages and disadvantages of each type, you will be able to choose which one to use.

.GIF
GIF can hold a maximum of 256 colors from a pool of 16 million. If the image has fewer than 256 colors, GIF can render the image exactly. As a disadvantage, when the image contains many colors, like a picture of someone’s face, sa GIF file will try to approximate the colors in the image with the limited palette of 256 colors available. It will make your image look like a pixelated mess. An advantage of using a GIF file is the ability to hold transparency. Since the GIF file can hold only 256 color values, it makes the file weight super light. If your image has fewer than 256 colors and contains large areas of uniform color, GIF is your choice.

.JPG
JPG is optimized for photographs that contain many, many colors. It stores information as 24 bit color. This would be the ideal format to use for pictures of people and places. A disadvantage of using .JPG is not having the ability to maintain transparency. Since .JPG’s hold more millions of colors, the file weight increases considerably. .JPG is the format of choice for nearly all photographs on the web.

.PNG
PNG is the combination of both a .JPG and .GIF; it can hold both transparency and millions of colors. Because it holds both, the file weight becomes extremely heavy. Use .PNG’s for smaller images, like logos and icons, that need to maintain transparency. Avoid using the .PNG format for large images. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Open Sans',Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline;">If you have an image with large areas of exactly uniform color, but contains more than 256 colors, PNG is your choice.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #808080; font-family: 'Bree Serif',Georgia,serif; font-size: 18px; vertical-align: baseline;">.TIFF
TIFF is good for any type of  bitmap   (pixel-based) images. TIFF produces large files, but there is no loss in quality.