Image File Formats
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Short name | JPEG | GIF | PNG | WebP | AVIF | HEIF | JPEG XL | TIFF | BMP | RAW | PSD | SVG | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Joint Photographic Experts Group | Graphics Interchange Format | Portable Network Graphics | WebP | AV1 Image File Format (AVIF) | High Efficiency Image File Format | JPEG XL | Tagged Image File Format | Windows Bitmap | RAW Image file | Photoshop Document | Scalable Vector Graphics | Portable Document Format (PDF) |
| Description | JPEG is the most common image format used by digital cameras, it is the most common format for storing and transmitting photographic images on the World Wide Web. | GIF is a bitmap image format that allows a lossless compression by reducing the image to 256 distinct colors. It has been replaced by PNG after fear over patent issues. It is still widely used for animation as it's the only format that supports animation and that is widely supported by browsers. | PNG was created to improve GIF image-file format. Removing patent license issues at that time; and removing 256 colors limitation. | WebP is an image file format developed by Google, and supposed to be a new open standard for lossily compressed true color graphics. It's a direct competitor to JPEG. | AV1 Image File Format is a recent image format based on the AV1 video codec and with a wide feature set. | High Efficiency Image File Format is a container format developed by the Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG). The format has several variants and supports individual or sequences of images. | JPEG XL is the next generation image format, with the ambition to replace the old JPEG format for the long term. | TIFF is a file format for storing images losslessly. It is widely supported by image-manipulation applications, by scanning, faxing, word processing, optical character recognition and other applications. | BMP File Format as been widely used on Windows platform. Although it supports data compression and alpha channels, these features were not widely used as it was not supported by all image editors. | RAW relates to several image file formats since each camera manufacturer has one or several formats (depending on equipments). These files contains the data acquired by sensors almost unprocessed. | PSD is the default image file format used by Adobe Photoshop. It supports layers and transparency. | SVG is an XML based file format. It allows to create vector graphics with animation and interaction support. It can be edited with any text editor. | PDF is a file format used to present documents in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems. Each PDF file encapsulates a complete description of a fixed-layout flat document, including the text, fonts, graphics, and other information needed to display it. |
| Developed by | Joint Photographic Experts Group | CompuServe | W3C (donated by PNG Development Group) | Alliance for Open Media (AOM) | MPEG | Joint Photographic Experts Group | Adobe | Microsoft | Camera manufacturers | Adobe | W3C | Adobe (until 2008) ISO (since 2008) | |
| Year | 1992 | 1987 (still) 1989 (animated) | 1996 | 2010 (lossy) 2011 (lossless/alpha/animation) | 2019 | 2015 | 2021 | 1986 (version 1) 1992 (version 6) | 1984 (version 1) 1998 (version 5) | multiple proprietary formats exist | 1990 (first version) (not standardized) | 2001 (SVG 1.0) | 1993 (first version) 2017 (PDF 2.0) |
| Pros | Small file size Widely supported format Compatibility Good color range | Simple animations/short video clips Widely supported format Transparency support Lossless compression Smaller file sizes | Widely accepted format Lossless Transparency support | Small file size (Smaller than JPEG with comparable image quality) | Small file size | Small file size (Smaller than JPEG with comparable image
quality) Royalty-free Modern features (HDR, animation...) | Lossless High-quality images Compatible with both PCs and Macs Multiple images and multiple pages can be saved in one file | Fast to encode | Lossless | Lossless Layers support Transparency support | Vector graphics: can be resized without quality loss Text-based: can be edited with a text editor | Lossless Protects intellectual property Maintains printed format | |
| Cons | Lossy compression Not great for text, simple graphics, or illustrations | Limited to 256 colors (8-bit per pixel). Only binary transparency. | Lossless only. Poor compression for photographic images. | Limited to 8-bit. Lossy forces 4:2:0 tv-range YCbCr. | Limited support yet | Limited support yet Patent-encumbered | Not yet enabled by most browsers | Large file size Not great for web graphics Minor software compatibility issues | Large file size | Large file size | Security issues; can contain executable code (javascript) and non-embedded (URI) resources, so essentially requires a browser for proper viewing. Not intended for print. | Longer browser loading times Non-editable content Not great for complex graphics printing Not really useful as a graphic image | |
| Features | |||||||||||||
| Vector graphics | No | No | No | No | No | No | - Can add splines to a raster image | No | No | No | - Can have text layers and other vector elements | Yes | Yes |
| Raster image | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes Can have embedded JPEG/PNG | Yes |
| Lossless | No | Yes | Yes | Yes Lossless and lossy | Yes Lossless and lossy | Yes Lossless and lossy | Yes Lossless and lossy | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Animation support | No | Yes | - Animated PNG is an extension to the PNG format which is compatible with the Gecko and WebKit layout engines and many image editing suites. Users of software incompatible with APNG see the first frame as a still. | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes | No |
| Transparency support | No | - Only all-or-nothing, no semi-transparency | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No |
| Layers support | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | - | No | No | Yes | Yes | No |
| HDR | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | |
| Maximum bit depth | 8-bit | 8-bit (but only 256 different colors) | 16-bit | 8-bit | 12-bit | 8-bit (HEIC) up to 16-bit (HEIX) | 24-bit integer 32-bit float | 32-bit | 8-bit | Typically 14-bit | 16-bit integer 32-bit float | 8-bit | |
| CMYK support (for print) | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| Maximum number of channels | 4 (RGB or CMYK) | 1 (palette data) | 4 (RGBA) | 4 (RGBA) | 5 (RGBA+depth) | 4099 (RGB/CMY + up to 4096 extra channels) | 65535 | 4 (RGBA) | Typically Bayer data (RGBG) | 56 | 4 (RGBA) | ||
| Commonly used for | Photography Photographic images electronically and on the web Printing photographs | Animation Simple web graphics | Icons Simple web graphics like logos Illustrations, or raster text rendering | Images on the web | Apple iPhone photos | Images from scanner HD imaging Working with photographs without image quality loss | Image editing | HDR photography, Archiving | Image editing | Scalable graphics | Fixed layout flat documents | ||
| Browser support (without plugin) | |||||||||||||
| Google Chrome | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes Chrome 85 | - AVIF | - Disabled by default | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Microsoft Edge | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | - Disabled by default | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Safari | Yes | Yes | Yes | - Partial support | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No |
| Firefox | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes Firefox 92 | No | - Disabled by default | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Opera | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes Opera 71 | No | - Disabled by default | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Internet Explorer | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | Yes IE9 | Yes |
| Additional | |||||||||||||
| File extensions | .jpg .jpeg .jpe .jif .jfif .jfi | .gif | Still: .png; Animated: .png, .apng | .webp | .avif .avifs | .heif .heifs | .jxl | .tiff .tif | .bmp .dib | .crw .cr2 .raw .rw2 .nef .nrw .orf ... | .psd .pdd | .svg .svgz | |
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