6. TIFF
Here is another raster file that uses lossless compression, meaning it does not lose quality. You always have the original image intact, irrespective of resaving, or compression. This might seems to be the best file type for your images. But you should not use it for website images. It might take forever to load thereby impacting negatively on your website load speed.
It is largely used by publishers and other professionals for image editing.
7. WEBP
It is a new file type for the web. It provides both lossless and lossy compression for images on the web. Its lossless images are 26% smaller than that of PNGS, the lossy images are 25-34% smaller than that of JPEG. This aids webmaster in creating smaller images that retain their quality.
Its advantage is in its retention of quality. Its lack of support by some operating system is a drawback.
8. AI
I love the way Adobe proudly refers to this file type as the “industry-standard vector graphic software”. It is well suited for creating graphics for both web and mobile. Illustrators find good use of these file types in creating logos, book illustrations, billboard images, and other product packages.
One unique advantage of this file type is the reversibility of all strokes, lines and shapes.
In conclusion, working with images can be very complicated. But you don’t need to be a graphic designer. With a basic understanding of the various file types, you can decide what and where to use them.
I believe that you now know where to use JPEG, PNG, GIFs, and even the popular PDF files. Likewise, you can identify which file types should be used for your books cover pages, logos, billboards and lots more.
You have given us a lot of very useful information on file formats. I found Harry's input below interesting. I had not heard of GIMP. I have been using a sort of Photoshop wannabe program called Photostudio that I received free with a scanner I bought many years ago. I don't think it is supported anymore. It says it only runs on Windows NT. But I can get it to run I just have to remember to keep saving my work otherwise it hangs itself. It has many of the features of Photoshop including working with layers, transparency, cloning, 2D transformations, and special arty effects but doesn't have the clever learning and macros that you get with Photoshop. I did have my own version of Photoshop many years ago when I was working in that field but I can't justify the cost of the license now and Photostudio does the trick.
I think the important questions for most of us are what are the best file formats to use for image creation and development, and then what formats are best used for online display on our sites. I wasn't aware, for example, that you can post vector graphics to websites, I guess other than PDF, but when I post PDFs I put them on separate single infographic pages with the express intent that they are available for download. I haven't tried embedding PDFs in a post.
Interesting topic.
Best regards
Andy
Reply
I stay more with JPEG, PNG and PDF. I WEBP would have been another alternative but its drawback of non-compatibility with all OS makes me drift away from it.
GIMP is free, you can easily download it from the net. I dwelt on GIMP and some free tools in this training 5 Free Image Editing tools that you can Use Thank you,
Ayodeji
I will also continue with JPEG and PNG. I think the main point for consideration that I got from your article was that I could also use PDF for infographics. I tend to produce my infographics in Powerpoint and then export one version in PNG for display in the post linking to a downloadable PDF which I publish on a separate page.
Best regards
Andy
You mention PSD using Adobe Photoshop and creating images using layers. To do this you need to use transparencies by removing unwanted background from different images and layering them one over the other.
This is ok if you can afford Photoshop, but what if you can’t. GIMP (Graphic Image Manipulation Program) is the answer. It’s free and, apart from some minor attributes, has everything you’ll find in Photoshop, more thanl enough unless you are a professional graphic designer.
This is where image file formats are important when creating images using transparencies and layers. Any transparencies created using JPEG will be lost when the final image is saved in the JPEG file format, as it doesn’t support transparencies. To overcome this problem, save the final image in the PNG file format.
Once the final image has been saved, upload it to Tinypng, where it can compress the image by as much as 70% without any noticeable loss.
Transparencies can be created using Gimp, but in many cases I find it easier to use removebg, an online background removal program. Below is an image I created for one of my sites using Gimp and seven different images.
Hi Harry, Just seeing this. I quite agree with you, GIMP is an excellent alternative to Photoshop. It is a totally free tool and it is easier to learn.
Ayodeji
