When To Use GIF and JPEG Image File Types
The one thing you will notice on the Internet is the common
misuse of image file types. This is commonly the result of web
designers that have just learned the basics of HTML and are
getting their feet wet by creating simple pages, while not
knowing the impact the misused graphic file types are having.
Here is a breakdown of the two most popular file types and when
you should be using them:
GIF Format:
The term GIF is an acronym for Graphics Interchange Format and
was created in 1987 by Bob Berry out of Compuserve.
As a web designer, you should always think of GIF in association
with Line-Art or Clip-Art. This typically means cartoons,
drawings, buttons, text images, or basically any artwork that is
not a photograph. The reason for this is that GIF photographs
tend to bloat the file size of the image and this will cause the
loading time for your website to increase.
When you are creating a GIF image, you are able to define the
amount of colors that are used in the image. For example, you
can specify the colors of a GIF image up to 256 colors. It
doesn't seem like a lot, but even with this amount of colors,
you are able to get sufficient photographic gradations in your
image results.
JPEG Format:
The term JPEG is an acronym for Joint Photographic Experts Group
and was created in 1990 by Eric Hamilton.
As the name implies, JPEGs were made for photographic images.
Whenever you are designing a website, always associate JPEGs
with photographs. You will do your website visitors a great
service by saving photos in this format, since they will load
much quicker than if that same photo was saved as a GIF.
When you are creating a JPEG image, you define the quality by
means of adjusting a percentage. This is useful when you are
optimizing a photograph for a website. The difference in load
time with a JPEG image at 100% quality is significantly
different than a JPEG photograph image set to 60% quality (and
most of the time, the loss in quality is unnoticeable to the
naked eye).
Other File Types:
There are other image file types for the Internet, such as PNG
and TIFF. These have their place in the overall spectrum of web
design, but for the beginning web designer, the focus should
begin with discerning the difference between GIF and JPEG.