Know the Type of File and When to Use
Digital images take up more of your computer’s memory space with various types of files. We know different photo extensions like .jpeg, .jpg, .png, .gif. We try to save space of the image files but not on the quality of the image. And it’s not that easy to declare the best type of file among all of them. Remember that saving an image with a wrong file extension will blur the image or in any way, the image loses the quality.
It is easy to save the images on our own system as they are and upgrade them when required. And what about online images, they cannot be saved with the same file type as they are. If these file types are huge, they occupy more space on the system memory. Not only space, the bandwidth of the image and the processing time increases.
We can use the compression technique to reduce the space taken up by the image. But what about the quality? Will the quality remain the same after compressing the image? There are some special features supported by the image like considering the image pixels, background, animation or if the picture is color or black and white.
We should know exactly which image can be saved in which type of file. We can save a lot of space and bandwidth in the process while maintaining the quality of the image.
Now let’s know the type of file and when we have to use that image file type.
1. JPEG:
JPEG is “Joint Photographic Experts Group” which id designed for still images and photographs. It can make a colorful image and even a shaded one with light and dark colors. They can even be found in black and white colors. The file extension of this type of file is .JPEG or .JPG. This is a 16 digit data format that can display thousands and thousands of colors.
The JPEG uses a very complex compression algorithm like the lossy compression technique to reduce the file size. It is a standard file format of digital cameras and web pages. This type of file is compatible across various OS platforms and many programs.
2. GIF:
GIF is “Graphics Interchange Format” created to transfer images quickly across a slow connection. It is pronounced as “Jif” and the file extension of a GIF image is .GIF. GIF images are mainly designed for animations and it uses 256 indexed colors. This type of file uses lossless compression that does not lose any data or the quality of the image.
Do you know where can the GIFs be used? They can be used in web graphics where only a few colors are used. They are also used to design small icons and simple images like line drawing, single color border, simple and easy cartoons, etc.
3. PNG:
PNG stands for “Portable Network Graphics” whose file extension is .PNG. It was designed as a way around patent issues with the GIF format, including benefits from both GIF and JPEG. There is no loss in the image since it uses lossless compression.
There are two types of PNG files: PNG-8 and PNG-24. The PNG-8 is almost similar to GIF with 256 colors and 1-bit transparency. These files are even smaller than GIF files. And PNG-24 is similar to JPEG files with lossless compressions. These PNG-24 files are larger than JPEG files. The PNG files are used in web images like the logos that involve transparency and fading, and complex images like the photographs with no issue on file sizes.
So, this is the overview for the type of file of an image. The tutorial gives you which type of file can be used in what type of images and photographs. You can make use of the file type accordingly.
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