FILE TYPES
Most images found on the computer screen are Raster Graphics. These include photos found on the internet and pictures you can import from your digital camera are raster graphics.
Raster graphics are made of a grid of pixels, which are also called to as bitmaps. The larger the image, the more disk space the image file will take up. Since raster graphics need to store so much information, larger bitmaps require large file sizes. Luckily, several image formats have been developed to help reduce file sizes.
JPEG, TIFF, GIF, BMP, PSD, AL FLA and WMF are image formats. Each image format differs with the devices that are used. For example, a Conon camera’s raw image file may use a different image format to a Nikon camera’s raw image file.
JPEG stands for “Joint Photographic Experts Group”. It is a lossy compression mechanism for digital images.
Lossy compression is a method in which data compression in the file size is reduced by eliminating the data in the file. Digital cameras compress raw photographs as JPEG images to make the files smaller in size.
But, despite the considerable decline in file size, JPEG images maintain acceptable image quality. This compression feature allows JPEG files to be used on the Internet, Computers, and Mobile Devices. Sharing JPEG images is quick and efficient, and you can store a large number of JPEG image files in minimum storage space. The one downside to the JPEG image files is that the images lose quality when it is edited multiple times. This is due to the compression and recompression each time it is edited.
TIFF files, or “Tagged Image File Format” files, are best for any bitmap image you edit. TIFF files were made to preserve the quality of the photos and are popular with graphic designers. Adobe InDesign documents are saved as TIFF files, and they can save multi-page documents to just a single file.
Graphics Interchange Format, also known as “GIF”, are used for simple graphics with limited colours for the web. They aren’t recommended for files with a broad range of colours like photographs.
GIFs are mostly short digital animations that are a series of images played one after another in a loop to create a video’s appearance. GIF files are tiny, which result in fast loading visuals.
A Bitmap image file, “BMP”, is an image format that was developed by Microsoft. It was created to save images that would not be distorted when viewed on different devices.
It is similar to TIFF and JPEG in that it contains uncompressed image data that supports monochrome and colour images, but it has a large file size. BMP files are commonly used for storing 2D digital photos.
A PSD file is an “Adobe Photoshop Document” file.
It is mainly used in Photoshop as a default format for saving images. The PSD file saves the multiple edits you make to the idea. That include saving multiple layers, swatches, page formatting information and more.
An AI file represents Adobe Illustrator Art. The Adobe systems create this graphics file format for containing vector-based graphics in a single page. Vector graphics are artworks made up of curves, points, and lines based on mathematical equations rather than solid coloured square pixels. This file is created of paths connected by points so that graphics content don’t lose their quality when enlarged or reduced.
FLA file, also known as a “Flash file”, is an animation project created by Adobe Animate. This file is used to create animation and games since Adobe Animate is used to draw and publish animations. The file also includes sound, and the quality is very high even though the file size is small.
WMF file is short for “Windows Metafile”. This file is similar to the AI file, where it contains vector graphics but also raster (bitmap) components at the same time. It includes programming commands that enable creating lines, circles, and rectangles on the viewing applications. This means that the file can be enlarged or reduced, and the quality will remain high.
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