Image Format describes how data related to the image will be stored. Data can be stored in compressed, Uncompressed, or vector format. Each format of the image has a different advantage and disadvantage. Image types such as TIFF are good for printing while JPG or PNG, are best for the web.
- TIFF(.tif, .tiff) Tagged Image File Format this format store image data without losing any data. It does not perform any compression on images, and a high-quality image is obtained but the size of the image is also large, which is good for printing, and professional printing.
- JPEG (.jpg, .jpeg) Joint Photographic Experts Group is a loss-prone (lossy) format in which data is lost to reduce the size of the image. Due to compression, some data is lost but that loss is very less. It is a very common format and is good for digital cameras, nonprofessional prints, E-Mail, Powerpoint, etc., making it ideal for web use.
- GIF (.gif) GIF or Graphics Interchange Format files are used for web graphics. They can be animated and are limited to only 256 colors, which can allow for transparency. GIF files are typically small in size and are portable.
- PNG (.png) PNG or Portable Network Graphics files are a lossless image format. It was designed to replace gif format as gif supported 256 colors unlike PNG which support 16 million colors.
- Bitmap (.bmp) Bit Map Image file is developed by Microsoft for windows. It is same as TIFF due to lossless, no compression property. Due to BMP being a proprietary format, it is generally recommended to use TIFF files.
- EPS (.eps) Encapsulated PostScript file is a common vector file type. EPS files can be opened in applications such as Adobe Illustrator or CorelDRAW.
- RAW Image Files (.raw, .cr2, .nef, .orf, .sr2) These Files are unprocessed and created by a camera or scanner. Many digital SLR cameras can shoot in RAW, whether it be a .raw, .cr2, or .nef. These images are the equivalent of a digital negative, meaning that they hold a lot of image information. These images need to be processed in an editor such as Adobe Photoshop or Lightroom. It saves metadata and is used for photography.
What is meant by image saved with transparency? Images saved with transparency look good on colored background whereas images without transparency will have a white background which will be visible on colored background. 