File Formats

JPEG The JPEG file is an image file and one of the most common types of picture formats as the size of compression can be adjusted. A JPEG file will typically achieve 10:1 compression. It has been used since 1992 . A JPEG file will not define which colour encoding is being used for the image. Also when a file is converted into a JPEG some of the information in the image will become lost. The JPEG file will also not support image layers and flatten the file. Finally the JPEG file will only support 8 bit images, which causes many issues as most digital cameras can operate between 12 16 so when the file is converted to a JPEG certain information is lost yet again. Advantages of using a JPEG file is that it has a very small memory size and due to it being able to support the 24 bit colouring it enables you to have access to over 16.7 million different colours. The JPEG format has a compression level that can be adjusted from a scale of 100 different values. When using a low compression level the files size will be reduced however the quality of the File will remain close to the original image. TIFF (Tagged Image File Format) The first version of the TIFF format to be released came from Aldus Corporation in 1986 after two previous draft releases by the company. A TIFF file format often saves 8 to 16 bits per colour which are red, green or blue. Most new digital cameras can save in TIFF format. However TIFF image format is not widely supported by web browsers. TIFF remains widely accepted as a photograph file standard in the printing industry. TIFF can handle device specific colour spaces, such as CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black) defined and OCR. The bad thing with TIFF file formats is that they have quite a large memory and use a lot more space than JPEGS, Digital cameras will not be able to save as many photos in the native TIFF format, another problem with its huge size is that because of this you may not be able to send the image through an email. TIFF files do not use compression by default, one of the big advantages of this is that there is no loss of image detail when you save the file. Another advantage of TIFF files is that they can be edited with most image editing software such as Photo Shop. TIFF was created to get desktop scanner sellers in the mid 1980s to agree on a common scanned image file format instead of having each company promote a whole set of different format files. TIFF files started of as binary image formats because that was all that desktop scanners could handle at the time.

GIF It was introduced by CompuServe in 1987 to provide a color image format for file downloading. It has become very popular in recent years on sites like Tumblr as the image appears to be moving as it has been compressed and had other images put into it. GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) is limited to an 8-bit palette which is equivalent to 256 colors reducing the graphic quality of the image by a great amount. The GIF format file supports animation images and is used to provide image animation effects. One of it main disadvantages is the large size of it which brings up a lot of issues when trying to upload to the Internet or even saving. An advantage of GIF files is they support images containing a degree of transparency. This makes them better for images like icons or logos that need transparent backgrounds to be displayed correctly. Also Gif files are animations, this is where it uses picture after picture in quick succession to make it seem as if it is moving when in actual fact its just the picture changing. PDF The PDF image format was created in the early 1990s as a new way to share documents, early versions of the PDF file did not have support for external hyperlinks reducing the formats usefulness on the web. The file was originally designed to save paper. Some advantages of PDF files are; They offer a high resolution in images in a fairly small file format, they are suitable where specialised fonts are used or needed and PDF are good for manuals and forms due to the layout which will recreate your original document. Some disadvantages are the user must have a plug in called Adobe Reader installed in order to access the document, if the file is too large it can take a longer time than most things to download and range from a quick 1-2 minutes to 5-10 minutes and finally the PFD documents are often formatted to print vertical whilst most monitors are generally horizontal which leads to users scrolling much more than often.

RAW (Raw Image Format) The Raw file format was by created for the need to provide long term publication for long term document projects. It was founded by Photojournalist Brenda Ann Kenneally and Laura Lo Forti in 2007. There is no single RAW file format, each camera company creates they own RAW format and in some cases have a different format per camera type which can cause problems if you are planning to buy a new camera and can cause problems for their editing if their software isnt as up t date with the camera. The RAW file is larger than the JPEG file ranging from 2-6 times as big which means it will take up a lot of space and be unable to take as many pictures per second as it needs more time to save. RAW files are unable to be printed as they are not supported by printers and require you to convert them into compatible software before printing such as JPEGS. The advantages of a RAW file is due to it being a big file it carries more detail than a standard JPEG. By this you can make the image darker or lighter thus creating shadows on the image without making the file lose bits of information like a JPEG would which is why more people use this file format in Photography. Also the camera settings in the camera are not applied to RAW files which will prevent the wrong camera settings such as contrast being applied to the image. WMF (Windows Metafile) The WMF is an image file designed for Microsoft Windows during the 1990s, The WMF is intended for transfer between applications which may contain bitmap components and vector graphics. Advantages of the WMF file is that it works well with Office, they can be resized without any distortion and can be large images with a small amount of memory. A disadvantage of the file is only a few applications support the direct editing of a Metafile. The WMF file is not that popular anymore and thus is not used by many people at all. PGF (Progressive Graphic File) The PGF file was created to replace the JPEG format and was developed in the year 2000. The advantages a PGF file has is that it has a superior compression performance compared to other formats like the JPEG, it possesses multiple resolution representation which means with this there is

no need for separately stored images and it has progressive transmission. Due to the hierarchical structure of the DWT a progressive refinement process with scalable resolution can be integrated naturally. However this file format never really caught on and JPEG remained a dominant file format whilst the PGF didnt. FITS (Flexible Image Transport System) FITS is and digital image file format which is used to store and transmit scientific images making it the most used file format in astronomy. It was fist standardized in 1981 and has been updated since then. Unlike most of the image formats FITS is primarily designed for scientific data and includes lots of provisions for describing spatial and photometric (measurement of light) information.

Vector Files A Vector file involves the usage of geometrical primitives e.g. points, curves, polygons, shapes and points which are based on a set of mathematical expressions, these are to represent images which involve computer graphics. In this context the word Vector implies more than just a straight line toward align. Vector files or Vector graphics are based on vectors which go through locations name control points. Each point has a definite position on the axes X and Y. One of the best things about this format is that it is infinitely scalable. You can enlarge this file as much as you want without losing the images quality. However these files are not the best for very detailed images that require exact colouring.

Raster File Formats Raster images or also known as Bitmap files are made up of individual square pixels that make up an image on your computer. When a Raster file in enlarged or zoomed in to a great extent the pixels will become more visible to the viewer. Raster graphic files are very resolution dependent, they cant scale up without a major loss in image quality. One of the best things with this file format is that the file is rich in detail due to the large amount of pixels it has within.

When it comes down to Raster images and Vector images there is no real winner as they both have their pros and cons. If you want an image that is not rich in detail and need a large size then you should use a Vector file as the image can be made to whatever size you want without it becoming pixilated. However if you need a image in a high quality image hat does not need to be stretched out then a raster file is a must as the pixels within offer huge detail.