WEBP to PDF: Protects image in its original state.ĭefinition: TIFF or Tagged Image File Format is a raster image format that is mostly used in publishing.WEBP to SVG: Best for simple images that need to be increased in size without losing quality.WEBP to PNG: Will drastically increase file size.WEBP to JPG: Removes lossless compression, which will degrade the image over time and also will increase file size.WEBP image files can utilize either lossy or lossless compression, meaning users have a choice between maintaining image quality or keeping file size to a relative minimum. GIF to PDF: Protect image in its initial state.ĭefinition: Developed by Google in an attempt to combine the best qualities of JPGs and PNGs: quality and compression.Animated GIFs can also be converted to animated WEBP files. GIF to WEBP: Decreases file size and not affect quality.GIF to SVG: Allows for scalability and responsiveness.GIF to JPG or PNG: Increases file size with no noticeable increase in quality.Use Cases: Because the GIF file format can’t contain many colors, it’s best used when creating simple images and logos. Like PNGs, GIFs also support transparency rendering. PNG to PDF: Protects the quality of the image in its original state.ĭefinition: 8-bit image files that can only contain up to 256 colors.PNG to WEBP: Results in a much smaller file size that maintains quality after rounds of editing.Complex images will be much larger in size in SVG format. PNG to SVG: Also converts a raster image to a vector image, allowing for responsive imaging.PNG to JPG: Reduces image file size and converts to lossy compression, which results in degraded quality after each edit.Use Cases: Like JPGs, PNGs are usually used for high-quality, vivid images and photographs. PNGs are also lossless, meaning an image will retain the same quality regardless of how many times it’s been edited. This means that objects within an image can be rendered transparent (the same effect in a JPG would have to be created using different individual colors to “mimic” transparency). Unlike JPGs, the PNG file format supports transparency. 24- and 48-bit PNGs are referred to as “truecolor,” meaning they can contain over 16 million colors. JPG to PDF: Removed lossy compression function and protects the overall image quality.ĭefinition: 8-, 24- or 48-bit raster images.JPG to WEBP: Results in a smaller file size, and an image that supports lossy and lossless compression options.The size of the new file will depend on the complexity of the image. JPG to SVG: Converts a raster image to a vector image, which allows for responsive implementation.JPG to PNG: Converts image to a lossless compression format, though this will result in a larger file size.However, lossy compression also results in decreased image quality after each image edit. JPGs use lossy compression, which allows for a reduced file size.
#File extension definition full
Use Cases: Best used for photo-realistic picture quality and complex images full of vivid colors. jfi)ĭefinition: 24-bit, high-quality raster images.
Now that we’ve covered those differences, let’s take a look at the high level differences between the image formats that we will cover in this article: Common Raster Image File Formats JPG (.jpg. One drawback of large vector images is that they require more polygons to retain quality, which can create incredibly large files. Unlike raster images, vector images retain quality when resized. Vector images are created using polygons rather than pixels. The original, high-quality JPG image clearly looks better than the zoomed in and resized version of the image. Here is an example of what happens when you resize a raster without any other changes. Because of this, they cannot be drastically resized without appearing grainy and low-quality. They’re high-quality, complex files created using millions of minuscule pixels. Raster images are the more common of the two image types. Though there are many image file formats and file extensions, they all fall into one of two categories: rasters and vectors. Let’s begin by discussing the file format that’s vital to today’s world of social media and website UX design – the image.