8 Types Of Image File Formats Everyone Should Know

Most of the designing projects can be saved in any kind of image file format. There are plenty of formats that are used for different purposes.

Each file formats have unique features and uses. So did you save your project in the correct format?

If you do not use the right file format to your project, final output will not be perfect as you expect.

Therefore, in this post we are going to share most common image file formats and their own uses.

1.JPEG or JPG (Joint Photographic Experts Group)

This is the most famous image file format used in images. Most of photos taken from cameras and mobile phones saved as a JPEG or JPG file.

The quality of these images depend on file sizes and resolution. That means quality of the image decreases when you decrease the file size.

Read: How to Use Pen tool in Photoshop like a pro!

You can use JPEGs for printing purposes, sharing on social media and MS office documents.

2.PNG (Portable Network Graphics)

Quality of the PNG images are not based on file size or resolution. Therefore, you can edit without losing its quality.

As well you can save images with transparent background. These image formats are perfect for web pages which are not suitable for print.

Unlike JPGs, the PNGs can compress without losing quality.

3.TIFF (Tagged Image File Format)

TIFFs are quite larger file types than JPEG but are lossless. Therefore, you can recover their image quality after editing.

These formats are commonly used in publishing industries.TIFF images are not suitable for web pages because it takes more time to load.

These files are also used when saving photographs for printing.

4.GIF (Graphics Interchange Format)

GIFs contain only 256 colours in the RGB color space. Therefore, the file size is smaller than PNGs which are used in animated images and banners.

You can save GIF images with transparent background. GIFs are the common image types used for web pages because of quick loading.

5.RAW (Raw Image Formats)

A RAW image means uncompressed image and file size is very large because of photos directly from the camera.

These file formats used by photographers to their own edits. But you should convert to other formats before sharing through the web.

RAW images are valuable because the quality of the image is in purest form.

6.BMP (Bitmap Images)

BMP file format introduced by Microsoft for Windows operating systems.BMP file size is relatively high because of no information losses.

Can’t compress these files and does not support CMYK.BMPs are not used nowadays because TIFFs are better than BMP.

7.SVG (Scalable Vector Graphic)

SVGs are vector image files that quality is not dependent on size. Therefore, these file types are used for responsive web design.

When you save logos in SVG format, it can be used for letterheads as well as billboards without any issues.

8.PSD (Photoshop Document)

PSD means Photoshop editing files developed by Adobe. You can edit these files through Photoshop software. Files sizes depend on project type.

You have to convert to other formats after edits. It’s also compatible with other adobe products such as Premier Pro.

You have to identify the perfect  image file formats according to your project to get quality output as well as you can manage your disk space. Thanks for reading!