JPG, GIF or PNG?
Which is the best file format for your image?
- .jpg - The best for pictures.
- .gif - The best for line-art and graphics. Also for animations.
- .png - The highest quality image compression. Also supports transparency. PNG images support transleucency and look the best if they fade to transparent.
- .bmp - Bitmaps are the poorest choice as the files are huge and it is a 'raw' image with no compression.
Image File Formats:
Below is a table with the most popular image file formats and their extensions. To find out more about any particular extension, simply click on the link to the left.| File Type |
Transparency | Animation | Definition |
|---|---|---|---|
| .jpg | No | No | .jpg or jpeg - Joint Photographic Experts Group. Variable compression rates. |
| .gif | Yes | Yes | Graphics Interchange Format |
| .png | Yes | No | Portable Network Graphics - High quality image compression. |
| .bmp | No | No | Bitmap |
| .cdr | Yes | No | CorelDraw file format |
| .psd | Yes | No | Photoshop file format |
| .ai | Yes | No | Adobe Illustrator file format |
| .xcf | Yes | No | Gimp file format |
| .tiff | Yes | No | TIFF file format |
| .eps | Yes | No | Encapsulated PostScript |
Read more on Image Compression
How do I convert some of these other formats to JPG?
Have you ever been sent a .cdr or .psd image and not had the CorelDraw or Photoshop application installed on your PC to open it?
There are ways to solve this problem:
- ImageMagick
- OpenDraw - an open-source implementation of CorelDraw.
- GIMP - The Gimp supports the opening of .psd (Photoshop) files by default.
More Freeware download sites:
- Sourceforge.net - The first place to search for freeware.
- tucows.com - Tucows has 'mirrors' worldwide and is a source for freeware and licensed software.
New projects are being created all the time, simply search for the program you would like and maybe something is out there waiting for you to discover it!