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graphics file formats » Tweet 0 Data Formats: File Formats and T Extensions » By: Vangie Beal server (Spo Posted: 05-13-2005 , Last Updated: 06-24-2010 Data Formats and Their File Exte A Quick Reference S » Data Formats and Their File Exte T »

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Graphics (n.) Refers to any computer device or program that makes a computer capable of displaying and manipulating pictures. T also refers to the images themselves.

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File Format A format for encoding information in a file. Each different type of file has a different file format. The file format specifies fir whether the file is a binary or ASCII file, and second, how the information is organized. Common Graphic & Some of the most used and common graphics formats used today ate TIFF, JPEG, and GIF. The Tagged Image File For (TIFF) is widely used in business, offices, and commercial printing environments. Initially TIFF was designed to alleviate t problems associated with fixed file formats and to eliminate the need for proprietary image file formats. In Web-based publishing, three file formats have become the widely accepted standard. Presently Internet browsers can read JPG or GIF and PNG images, without the user installing a separate viewer or plug-in. On Web pages it is most com find JPEG, or Joint Photographic Experts Group files used for photographic quality images. JPEG (or JPG) uses a lossy compression structure that allows users to compress the data up to 1/10 of the original size. Such high compression resu loss of image quality, but on Web pages the images are generally small and they need the compression to produce the s image file sizes for downloading.

Most graphics programs will also allow the user to select a compression factor as you save a JPEG file, so you can work image to achieve a good balance between file size and image quality. As the compression factor gets higher, more artifac introduced into the image, which are blurred to make them less noticeable. Sponsored Migrate to a Private Cloud, Not a Virtual Datacenter: Before you implement a private cloud, find out what you need to about automated delivery, virtual sprawl, and more.

The three images below represent the lowest, mid-range and highest compression in a photo quality JPEG image.

Low compression / Best Quality Mid range compression & quality High Compression / Worst Quality 80KB file 8KB file 6KB file The Graphic Interchange Format, or GIF, was developed by CompuServe to show images online when 8-bit video was commonplace. GIF uses a of up to 256 colors, which is why it is not suited to photo quality images where 24-bit co required. GIF is best suited to common Web graphics like buttons, logos, text boxes, borders, and small animated images the image is designed by the graphic artists and does not need more than 256 colors. A small background image for a W may only contain a few colors, in which case saving the image as a GIF file will produce the optimal file size for this type graphic, especially when the graphic uses separate solid colors rather than shading.

Another important feature of a GIF file is that you can choose to save the background of an image as transparent. If you c simple set of icons or text boxes for a Web page, saving these as transparent GIF files would allow you to implement the graphics on a variety of Web pages, regardless of the background colors you've used on the page. Most graphics progra allow you to select a color within the GIF file to make transparent, or start with a transparent background and build your g up from there.

The compression algorithm used in the GIF format is owned by Unisys, and companies that use the algorithm are suppos license the use from Unisys. Unisys announced in 1995 that it would require people to pay licensing fees in order to use G This does not mean that anyone who creates or uses a GIF image has to pay for it. Authors writing programs that output images are subject to licensing fees. To this end PNG was developed as a patent-free answer to the GIF format.

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PNG, or Portable Network Graphics, is the third graphics standard supported by the Web (though not supported by all bro PNG was developed as a patent-free answer to the GIF format but is also an improvement on the GIF technique. An ima lossless PNG file can be 5%-25% more compressed than a GIF file of the same image. PNG builds on the idea of transp in GIF images and allows the control of the degree of transparency, known as opacity. PNG does not support animation l does.

Alphabetical Listing of Popular Graphics File Format Animation Shop (.psp) Paint Shop Pro animation file (Paint Shop Pro Products) CALS Raster (.cal, .cals) CALS files are used mainly for document imaging and only store black-and-white, 1-bit image data. CompuServe Graphics Interchange (.) Developed by CompuServe, GIF uses a palette of up to 256 colors and is a popular choice for Web site graphics. (.lbm) Used by Electronic Arts' Deluxe Paint package. LBM files use an IFF header and IFF color map. As Electronic Art progressed towards being a game developer, Deluxe Paint was abandoned. Encapsulated Post Script (.sps, .ai, .ps) EPS is supported by most illustration and page layout programs. GEM Paint (.img) The GEM image format is the saved bitmap file used by GEM Paint and Ventura Publisher Interchange File Format (.iff) IFFs are 8 to 24 bit indexed color graphics or 8 bit interleave audio and are used on the Classic platform. Audio IF usually use a .snd extension. JPEG (.jpg, .jpe, .) Joint Photographer's Exchange graphic (JPEG) is a compressed raster image format file. are popular for Web-ba distribution and display of photographic quality images. JPEG 2000 (.jp2, .jc2, .j2k, .jpc, .jpx) The JPEG-2000 system has a rate-distortion advantage over the original JPEG. It allows extraction o different resolutions, fidelities, regions of interest, components, and more, all from a single compressed bitstream. J 2000 also has options for lossy and . Macintosh PICT (.pct) Apple Macintosh Metafile supported by most Mac programs. MacPaint (.mac) MAC files are used in the Macintosh MacPaint application. The MAC format requires always an image width of 576 height of 720 lines. Paint (.msp) Mono bitmap format used mainly for Black-and-white drawings and clip art. PhotoShop (.psd) Photoshop file ( Products)

Portable Bitmap (.pbm) Files are created by Jef Poskanzer's PBMPlus Portable Bitmap Utilities. The portable bitmap format is a lowest common denominator monochrome file format. Portable Greymap (.pgm) Files are created by Jef Poskanzer's PBMPlus Portable Bitmap Utilities. The portable graymap format is a lowest commo denominator file format. Portable Pixelmap (.ppm) by Jef Poskanzer's PBMPlus Portable Bitmap Utilities. The portable pixmap format is a lowest common denominator colo file format.

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RAW Graphics File Format (.raw) A flexible basic file format for transferring files between applications and computer platforms. This format consists of a str describing the color information in the file. SG Image File (.rgb, .bw, .rgba, .sgi) SG is the file extension for the Image file associated with SnapGraphix. Sun Raster (.ras) The Sun Raster format is the native bitmap format on the Sun UNIX platforms. It is a simple bitmap format with wide distr as it is supported by Sun OS and many UNIX based applications. Tagged Image File Format (.tif, .) TIFF is mainly used for exchanging documents between different applications and different computer platforms. It suppor LZW method compression for image types. Truevision Targa (.tga) Developed by Truevision Inc. TGA files is a file format that will support images suitable for display on Targa hardware but supported by many applications on a wide range of platforms. Windows Meta File (.wmf) Graphics file format used to exchange graphics information between Microsoft Windows applications. Windows Run-Length Encoded (RLE) The RLE format is a variation of the Windows BMP format that offers asome image compression. In Windows it can be us create compressed wallpaper files or to replace the opening Windows logo screen. Windows or OS/2 Bitmap (.bmp) Windows Bitmap file with color options of Mono, 4-bit, 8-bit, 24-bit. Compression is RLE, Huffman 1D, or uncompressed. format is supported by Intel machines running OS/2, Microsoft Windows, Windows NT, Windows 95, and MS-DOS. Wireless Bitmap (.wbmp, .wbm) WBMP is WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) graphic format optimized for mobile computing devices. Z Soft Paintbrush (.) Bitmap graphics file format, originally developed by Z-Soft for use with PC-Paintbrush. This file format is now uised and generated by many applications and scanners. Understanding Graphics - Related Terms from Webopedia aliasing digital photography megapixel animation dithering pixelated bit map gray scaling render bit-mapped graphics jaggies RLE clip art JPEG resolution CMYK line art vector graphics

Based in Nova Scotia, Vangie Beal is has been writing about technology for more than a decade. She is a frequent contr EcommerceGuide and managing editor at Webopedia. You can tweet her online @AuroraGG. Related Links

An Overview of JPEG-2000 (PDF) Graphics.com Adobe Photoshop Tutorials PNG (Portable Network Graphics) Specification Dynamic Graphics Lexar Digital Photography Tips The TIFF Image File Format The Science of Color JPEG image compression FAQ The Digital Camera Picture Scanning Tips for Web Images Optimizing Web Graphics

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