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File Formats

What their purpose is, their advantages, disadvantages with examples

+JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group)

JPEG is a lossy compressable file format for images. The lossy term is because the more the file is saved it slowly looses image quality and size due to its small size.

JPEG is a commonly used file format on the internet to share photos as it is a common, small file format that is used primarily to share photos when its main function isn't about the quality of the image.

The advantage of JPEG is that it is a small file size that is used commonly to share images that do not require the best quality

The disadvantage of the JPEG format is that it is lossy, meaning that the more you save it the more quality is lost.

+TIFF (Tagged Image File Format)

TIFF is a large file format that is used for images and features a lossless compression file format during compression. TIFF’s reasoning for its large file format is that its bit depth is 16-bit per channel, compared to JPEG being only an 8-bit.

TIFF’s use includes being a great option for coming back to an image and saving over and over. Say you are manipulating the image over time it doesn’t lose quality.

The advantages of TIFF is that it is a high quality file due to its larger bit depth than JPEG and it is also lossless.

However the trade off for this is that it is a large file size which leads to less storage and less TIFF files to store in comparison to JPEG for example.

+PNG (Portable Network Graphics)

PNG’s are bitmap files that are much smaller than JPEG file sizes. They are clipped so that background are removed and are very useful for photo manipulation. PNG is not lossy when compressed. This means that when compressed and then saved and opened. There is no loss of quality and it is the same file size

PNG’s are used frequently on stock image websites so that the main subject of the image is clipped and doesn’t require photo manipulation to remove the background.

Advantages of PNGs is that it is lossless during compression and it can have clipped backgrounds

Disadvantages however include the fact that you cant put multiple images on one file and that it is not the best quality file format for images.

+GIF (Graphics Interchange Format)

GIF is a format that can store animated or singular images whilst using only a small amount of storage space. They compress images to a maximum 8-bit colour depth which is bad for images or animations where quality matters.

GIFs are mostly used to show multiple image animations as they are much smaller than video file sizes, but GIFS have no audio.

The advantages of GIFs is that they are a small file size suitable for mutiple image animations

However they are very lossy and low quality, and musnt be used in instances where you require high quality or audio for the animations

+RAW

RAW files are files that are created using a camera, they are basically the full image as seen by the sensor. They allow you to process the image yourself rather than the camera compress the file so that you cannot edit it past a few basic changes.

Camera RAW is used so that in post, you can edit lots of different components, even as deep as the exposure.

The advantages of RAW is that it gives you complete control over what the image will turn out, which goes past what you can do on the day with the settings of the camera and lens

However the disadvantage is that you cant take as many photos on the card if the file size was JPEG due to it being a larger file, also it can clog up the writing of the image to the card, as the write speed may not be fast enough to keep up with fast bursts of shots of a RAW files as it can do with a JPEG file

+PSD (Photoshop Document)

Photoshop documents are layered formats that can be fully manipulated in Adobe Photoshop. They can be saved as the image that it currently is, or in Photoshop different elements can be moved around and then changed. It allows for full creative control of the image.

This file is used by Adobe Photoshop as its default file save for manipulation of images

The advantages of PSD’s is that it allows for movement of images and changes within the layering of image stacking

However the disadvantage is that the file can only be opened on adobe products and will struggle to open at full file size on others and their file size is large due to their preservation of different layers.

+AI (Adobe Illustrator)

Adobe Illustrator files are creative files that allow for manipulation and use on Adobe illustrator.

This is used mainly by graphic designers and animators to create and develop graphical content on Adobe Illustrator.

The advantages of this is that it is the most common editing file in use today due to it being used with a massively popular application for graphics.

However the disadvantage is that it can only be opened on some adobe applications and will not on anything else. So if you don’t have the adobe applications the file wont open.

+PDF (Portable Document Format)

PDF Files are a file that captures every element of a document as an electronic image you can manipulate, view, print and forward on to someone else.

PDF Files are primarily used for electronic versions of books and documents so that they are able to be viewed on computers as opposed to a paper version of it.

The advantages of this is that it is very high quality, with most if not all aspects of the document being captured by the computer

However its disadvantage is that PDFs can only be created on some Adobe based applications and a few others like it, so if you don’t have the right software you cannot make a PDF File.

+Rasterizing

Rastered images are images composed from pixels on the screen. This can be composed from either millions or billions depending on the resolution of the images.

This is used a lot and is usually a common standard for the standard of resolution of the file

The advantage of rasterizing files is that it is easy to distinguish singular pixels and get locations of images for tiny manipulations

But the disadvantage of this is that due to their being pixels attributed to everywhere, when the image is zoomed in the pixel size zooms in with it and creates a blur and distortion on the image.

+Vectorizing

Vector files are files that use hundreds of thousands of different tiny lines and curves to create an image.

The use of vector images are primarily used on any hard edged graphics, where if it were pixels it would show a harsh distortion. On the edges of the curve.

The advantages of vector files is that data is shown in its original resoliution without any worry of losing quality on any hard edges where pixels may distort colour changes.

The disadvangtages of this is that vector files cannot be used to store images where pixel by pixel there is a difference as it will be hard for the curve to change when there is a colour change frequently. Moreover making a vector file takes longer than a pixel due to the algorithm for the changing of colour on the line.