GRAPHIC FILE TYPESBy Erin Daughtrey

VECTOR GRAPHICS

A Vector graphic uses geometrical formulas such as lines, points, and curves to create shapes. These shapes can be

moved, resized, and changed in any way without any loss of

quality

A raster graphic also known as bitmap

represent a grid of pixels or points of

color. These graphics can not be resized without loss

of quality

Raster Graphics

GIF: GRAPHICS INTERCHANGE FORMAT

GIF is a compressed file format. GIF graphics are based on a palette of up to 356 colors called indexed colors, which helps reduce their file size. These graphics are good fro small

icons, animated images, and logos. GIF doesn’t have the color range for

high quality photos.

PNG: PORTABLE NETWORK GRAPHIC

PNG is a more powerful alternative to the GIF. PNG’s are not restricted to 256

color limitations. They also do not support multiple frames or

animation. PNG’s are widely supported but GIF is still the most

popular.

SVG: SCALABLE VECTOR GRAPHIC

SVG graphics are vector graphics that enable

two-dimensional images to be displayed on

websites. These images are created with text-

based commands. These images are also scalable

with the size and resolution of the window in which it is displayed.

PSD: PHOTOSHOP DOCUMENT

PSD is an application specific format. At first not many programs but now there are many programs even ones that are not adobe that support PSD. Most programs support PSD files as

read only.

TIFF: TAGGED IMAGE FILE FORMAT

TIFF is a raster only format that is used for photos in the prepress world. IT is also the most reliable widespread format for raster

data. It can be used in any resolution or color scheme and rarely causes any problems.

RAW IMAGES Raw images are also called Camera Raw. This

isn’t necessarily a graphic format & Photoshop as well as other editing programs are trying to overcome problems created by

RAW images.

JPEG: JOINT PHOTOGRAPHIC EXPERTS GROUP

JPEG is a compressed image file format. There is no limitation of color like GIF images. JPEG is best for compressing photographic images. Large colorful

images are normally JPEG images. If a JPEG image is compressed too much the image becomes blocky and some of the detail is

lost.