Graphics file format type and when to use.

It is very crucial for a skilled graphic designer to create an attractive design as it is to use it in the right place. We all know a little bit about different graphics file formats. But if you want to be one of the best graphic designers, you must have a good idea about the different graphic file formats and how to use them properly.

The graphic files come in a variety of formats that you usually see online. In this article, we will try to explain different formats of graphic files and when to use them. 

Almost all image files are included into two general categories: raster files and vector files.

The different types of image file formats

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1. Raster file formats

• JPEG
• GIF
• PNG
• TIFF
• RAW
• PSD

2. Vector file formats

• PDF
• EPS
• SVG
• AI
• DXF

Raster File Formats

JPEG – Joint Photographic Experts Group:

JPEG regards as a “loss” in simple terms, when the JPEG file is created the compressor shows the image, identifies common color fields, and uses them instead. The result is that colors that are not considered normal are “lost”, thus reducing the amount of color information in the image that reduces file size.

When creating a JPG file this asks to set a value between Photoshop image options such as values 0 to 12. Something below 5 to 5 will probably give a large amount of information to the pixelated image because throwing out a lot of data is considered to be the best practice to reduce the file size out of 8 and 12.

JPEG is not suitable for images, color large blocks, or simple sized images because crisp lines will stain and colors will shift. Only JPEG offers baseline alternatives, baseline optimized, or progressive.

PNG – Portable Network Graphics:

PNGs are the most popular image format that makes much sharper and web quality images. You can not print PNGs but can edit them without losing quality and resolution. 

PNGs are suitable to use in most web projects and on a transparent background you can save images with more colors. 

To think carefully about the size of the PNG file, you need to consider whether the image quality advantage is enough to leave that space (or slow web page loading, etc.). Since a PNG file does not compress the image like other damaged formats such as JPEG, the quality does not decrease when the image is in PNG format.

GIF – Graphics Interchange Format:

People commonly use GIF files on the Internet along with several other file formats such as JPG and PNG. GIF Graphics is an acronym for Interchange format that uses a harmless data compression technique that reduces file size without qualitative loss. Limit the use of GIFs for simple web graphics – up to 256-colors. 

The files are always 256 unique colors or less and create very small, fast-loading graphics for the web. Great for GIF web buttons, charts or diagrams, cartoon-like drawings, banners, and text titles. We usually use it for small, compact web animations but should rarely be used for photography although GIF images have a resurrection.

TIFF – Tagged Image File:

TIFF (format of the tagged image file) is a compression format that will not lose any information about the photo’s data; This is a perfect file format. Files in this format are much larger in size than JPEG and RAW files, but some cameras have the ability to create images in TIFF format.

TIFF is a more common format than graphics publishing and medical imaging than digital photography, although there are instances where professional photographers may have a project that requires a TIFF file format.

Suitable for bitmap images specified for TIFF printing because this format uses CMYK color. It creates large files for normal resolution of 300 PPI without any qualitative loss. TIFF saves layers, alpha transparency, and other special features when saved from Photoshop. Additional information stored with TIFF files varies from version to version of Photoshop, so get the help of Photoshop for more information.

PSD – Photoshop Document:

PSD is the native format of Photoshop. Use PSD when you need to save layers, transparency, adjustment layer, mask, clipping path, layer style, modding mode, vector text, and size. Remember, these documents open in Photoshop, although some image editors will open them.

RAW – Raw Image Formats:

RAW files require a lot of storage space as they do not compress or process. Some people refer to the RAW format as a “digital negative” because it does not change when saving files. RAW is a familiar term to many in modern digital photography. What exactly is this RAW thing ?? Is it a new type of image format? No. It is not an image format. It is a kind of database file. The name of the RAW file changes depending on the camera, for example, Nikon expresses the RAW file with.NEF, while Canon expresses RAW file with.CR2.

RAW files require a lot of storage space as they do not compress or process. Some people refer to the RAW format as a “digital negative” because it does not change when saving files.

Vector File Formats

PDF – Portable Document Format:

Literally, the full meaning of PDF is “Portable Document Format”. A PDF file is a type of text file that you cannot edit. Anyone can edit the simple files of Microsoft Word Excel, but once a file is sent in PDF format, it is not easy to edit it. If you want to edit a PDF file, you have to take it in another format and then edit it. Besides, You cannot convert PDF files easily.

SVG – Scalable Vector Graphics:

SVG stands for Scalable Vector Graphics. This is a type of XML-based vector graphics format. With SVG, anyone can design their own icon or image with just a little bit of coding.

The specialty of SVG Files is that you can easily design your own icon, easily convert it to any image format (eg JPG, JPEG, PNG, etc.), save it to your own quality.

A file with the SVG extension is probably a scalable vector graphics file. Use an XML-based text format of files in this format to illustrate how the image should appear.

Since people use the text to describe the graphic, scale an SVG file to different sizes without quality – in other words, the format solution is unique. For this reason, website and print graphics builds-in SVG format, you may resize them to fit different designs in the future.

If an SVG file is compressed with GZIP compression, the file will end with the.SVG file extension and maybe 50% to 80% smaller in size.

EPS – Encryption PostScript:

A file with an EPS file extension is an encryption PostScript file. We usually use them draw to applications to describe how to create images, drawings, or layouts. EPS files can contain both text and graphics to describe how the vector image is drawn, but it usually includes the bitmap preview image “encapsulated”.

To avoid downloading a program to use the EPS file, Google Drive acts as an online EPS viewer because it works entirely online through your browser.

Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, and Microsoft Word (insert menu via) also support EPS files but they are not free to use.

AI – Adobe Illustrator:

Adobe Illustrator AI file extension is probably the Adobe Illustrator Artwork. The file is created by Adobe’s vector graphics program known as Illustrator. It is a proprietary file format managed and operated by the Adobe system.

Instead of using bitmap image information, AI files save the image of choice that can be resized without losing quality. Vector images are saved in PDF or EPS format but the AI file extension is used since the Adobe Illustrator program is the primary software that creates files in this format.

DXF – Drawing Interchange Format:

A file with a DSF file extension is a drawing exchange format file created by Autodesk as a universal format for storing CAD models. The idea is that if the file format is supported by different 3D modeling programs, they can easily import/export the same documents

The DXF format is similar to the AutoCAD drawing database file format that uses the DWG file extension. However, DXF files are widely used in CAD programs because they can exist in a text-based ASCII format that naturally makes them easier to apply in such applications.

Final Words:

An important function of a file extension is to tell the operating system which program to open the file with. Most operating systems, regardless of the format in which the file is located, determine the format on which the file is located and open the file by program accordingly.

In this article, you have learned about the image format and hopefully, you have got enough ideas about the formats that you can use.