Are you trying to print a beautiful graphic but it keeps coming out fuzzy and unusable? The problem might be your image file format.
An image’s file format is how it’s saved on your device. Your computer then accesses this file format and performs a process called rasterization, which converts it to pixels.
Each format has its advantages and disadvantages. Some are ideal for printing images and retaining quality while others are optimized for storage.
Consider how you plan to use an image when deciding on a file format. Read on to learn which is best for specific applications.
Printing
If printing images is your aim, you’ll want a format that supports high quality. For this purpose, TIFF (Tagged Image File Format) is the ideal choice.
TIFF files are among the highest quality web image formats. They allow an image to retain its depth, something that’s imperative for photo quality.
This format has a few downsides that need to be considered. The first is that TIFF files are quite large, so they’ll take up a significant amount of memory on your device.
Another disadvantage is that they’re not the ideal file for web images. Many browsers require an extension to view TIFF files.
Editing
For those looking to alter their digital images, PNG (Portable Networks Graphics) is the file type of choice.
These files support up to 16 million colors and lossless compression, so your image quality won’t suffer when you compress the file. You’ll also retain all image data during the process.
This makes it very easy to edit an image. This image format also features a high degree of opacity, so you’ll be able to make transparent images.
However, PNG files are quite large. Storing them or sending them via email may require you to convert PNG to JPG, a format that uses much less memory.
Compression
If you’re looking to compress the size of your image file, JPG (Joint Photograph Experts Group) is the way to go.
JPG files are much smaller than other image formats, and they lend themselves well to compression. However, the image quality may suffer when the file is compressed.
If you need to send an image over an email, compressing a JPG allows it to fit within an email’s file size constraints. You’ll also be able to save more JPGs on your hard drive than other image files.
These files can also support up to 16 million colors. This makes JPGs great for images that contain a large amount of color data.
Virtually every web browser can access JPG files, so they’re an incredibly common choice for website images.
Choose the Right Image File Format
Whenever you save an image, you’re confronted with a host of image file types. Choose an appropriate image file format based on what you plan to do with the image.
TIFF files are ideal for printing as they offer the best image quality and PNG files are ideal for editing purposes. To conserve memory, opt for a JPG file.
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