Which File Format?

Do you know what type of file format you should be saving in for the web? What type of file do you need to create a transparent background? 

Hopefully, this guide will help you so you save the images right the first time. 

JPG – Joint Photo Expert Group
The most common file type, A faster file format that is used for images, pictures. It is a smaller file size with a lower file quality. Not designed for logos or graphic and cannot be made transparent.

GIF – Graphic Interchange Format
Pronounced with a soft G. Developed by Compuserve in the 1980s. Supports up to 8 bits per pixel for each image, allowing a single image to reference its own palette of up to 256 different colours chosen from the 24-bit RGB colour space. It also supports animations and allows a separate palette of up to 256 colours for each frame. Can be transparent. Often used on social media. For the web only.

PNG – Portable Network Graphic
Lossless data compression. PNG was designed for transferring images on the Internet, not for professional-quality print graphics. Can be transparent and is the most widely used lossless image compression format on the Internet.

BMP - Bitmap Image File
Developed by Microsoft, BMP files are like PNG and GIF files. Made specifically to render simple yet crisp logos, type, icons. Used for print or simple graphics.

PSD – Photoshop Document
The native file format for photoshop files. Very flexible file format can support transparency, channels, masks and vector type and objects, paths and layers. For print/photos only. PSD file type not supported for the web.

SVG - Scalable Vector Graphic
SVG is an XML-based vector image format for 2D graphics with support for interactivity and animation. SVG is ideal for type, logos, graphics and vector shapes. Can be compressed without any loss of quality.

TIFF – Tag Image File Format
An Older file format for storing raster graphics images, popular among graphic artists, the publishing industry, and photographers. TIFF can support transparency.

EPS - Encapsulated Postscript
An older file type that allows saving of vector artwork such as an Adobe Illustrator/CorelDraw or an Adobe Photoshop files that contain vector shapes or type. Not massively used and I'm not sure I've ever saved a file in this format. Used only for print.

Hopefully, this will help to decide the best file format to save as...