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Most Popular Image File Types and Their Pros & Cons

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August 23, 2022

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There are different types of image that are being used in different formats today. The image formats have been divided into multiple categories. The major categories include graphic file format, raster web images and vector file formats. Now in this post we have discussed some of the most popular image format types being used along with their pros and cons. So if you are wondering which image format is best for you then you need to read on this post.

Here Are The Best & Most Popular Image File Types

JPEG – Joint photographic experts group

The most commonly used image format is JPG. This is one of the raster image formats which are popular because it can easily be shared. JPG image formats have lossy compression features which make them extremely suitable for sharing. You must know that JPEG images are being used on thousands of sites on the internet and the reason is that they are compatible on every browser and operating system. The con of this format is that its lossy features can lead to poor text readability issues.

PNG – Portable network graphics

This is another raster graphics format which is commonly being used on the web. The reason behind the popularity of PNG is that it that they have better quality hence text readability than the JPEG format. They are commonly used in banners, logos, and screenshots and for infographics where the textual content needs to be visible. The high quality of PNG files can surely increase the visibility of the image but at the same time you should know that it can also slow down the loading speed of a site or page on which they are published.

GIF – Graphics interchange format

The graphic interchange format is one of the most commonly used raster format today. The reason as for why it is famous is because it is used for animations. The gif images are limited to 8 Bit per pixel which makes its file size small and friendly for websites. The main advantage of using GIF is that it shows animated images and it has a low file size. Here you should know that 8-bit limitation of the GIF files can sometimes lead to bad quality.

BMP – Bitmap

BMP is not a new image format like the ones we have listed above. It is in fact considered to be an outdated image file format. The main feature of BMP is that it maps pixels in the image individually. The BMP format cannot be compressed as a whole file which is why you can see that the size of BMP is often large. The pro of this format is that it can be scaled in small portions but you must know that the size and quality issues just add a lot to its cons. This is why you can see people convert bmp to PDF or other image formats because there is no popular use of it anymore.

WebP

WebP is a very popular image format which is specifically developed for the purpose of getting reduced size of an image without damaging its quality. The most common issue with images is that of their size. Today you can easily enjoy a low sized image without worrying about its quality. You can convert your jpg or png images to WebP with the help of online tools and can save up to 40% space on your drive without compromising its quality. The con of this format is that it is not yet supported by every browser or image editor tool.

TIFF

TIIF which is also known as the tagged image file format is one of the most famous raster image formats. This image format is commonly used for storing and editing images that need to be used for later purposes. The TIFF images can easily support lossy compression. If you want to print an image then you need to change or save it into TIFF. The con of this format is that its large size and it can also not be used on every other browser or operating system.

SVG – Scalable vector graphics

The SVG file format was developed as a markup language. It is being used today as for rendering two dimensional images within multiple browsers. Small size and loss free compression is one of the pros of this image format. The con of this format is that it is not ideal for complex drawings. SVG format is used for logos, icons and simply illustrations.

PDF – Portable document format

The PDF or portable document format is commonly used for saving images in the format in which they are created. Usually images that have text on them are saved in the PDF format. The biggest pro of this format is that it cannot lose its quality of structure. It can also be used on every device and operating system. The con of this format is that PDF images cannot be included in website content.

These are the most commonly used image file formats.