TIFF

TIFF (Tag Image File Format) is a widely supported open file specification, originally
developed by Aldus (acquired by Adobe). It is a raster-based format commonly used for
images that come from optical scanners, graphics/photo editing applications, etc.
TIFF files can span multiple pages, contain a number of different raster format "encodings"
(ways to represent pixels dots with compression) and contain metadata tags, such as the
origin of the images and creation date.
The most common TIFF encoding is CCITT G4, which is used to represent monochrome
(black and white) scans of images like documents, checks and blueprints. Other file
encodings are color images for photographs, images of charts, graphical renderings, etc.
TIFF vs JPEG
JPEG/JPG is the standard file format of most of consumer-quality digital cameras and is
supported by most imaging software. JPEG offers efficient file sizes for uploading/posting on
websites or emailing as attachments.
JPEG uses lossy compression, meaning some image data is lost when the file is compressed
and then uncompressed. The amount of compression can vary, with more compression
meaning more data loss but resulting in a smaller file. JPEG, like TIFF, is a good bet for a
long term archival format.
Uncompressed (lossless) TIFF is the standard for most commercial digital photo printing
needs. TIFF is an excellent choice for archiving images when file size is not a consideration
as uncompressed TIFF files are larger than JPEGs.
GIF, JPG and PNG Whats the difference? Article
GIF and JPEG are currently the primary file types for graphics on the Internet.
The GIF Format
The GIF format is one of the most popular formats on the Internet. Not only is the format
excellent at compressing areas of images with large areas of the same color, but it is also
the only option for putting animation online (unless you want to use Flash or other vectorbased animation formats, which typically cost more). The GIF89a format also supports
transparency, and interlacing.
GIF files support a maximum of 256 colors, which makes them practical for almost all
graphics except photographs. The most common method of reducing the size of GIF files is
to reduce the number of colors on the palette. It is important to note that GIF already uses
the LZW compression scheme internally to make images as small as possible without losing
any data.
Transparency
As I mentioned above, the GIF format supports transparency. This allows a graphic designer
to designate the background of the image transparent. This means that if you place a
transparent GIF in a yellow table cell, the background color of that image will turn yellow.
Interlacing
The interlacing feature in a GIF file creates the illusion of faster loading graphics. What
happens is that an image is presented in a browser in several steps. At first it will be fuzzy

and blurry, but as more information is downloaded from the server, the image becomes
more and more defined until the entire image has been downloaded. Its important to note
that interlaced GIF files will usually be a bit larger than non-interlaced ones, so use
interlacing only when it makes sense.
When to use them
Generally, GIF files should be used for logos, line drawings and icons. Avoid using it for
photographic images, and graphics which have long stretches of continuous-tone in them.
When youre designing GIF files, avoid using gradients and turn off anti-aliasing where
possible to minimize the file size.
The JPEG Format
The JPEG format, with its support for 16.7 million colors, is primarily intended for
photographic images. The internal compression algorithm of the JPEG format, unlike the GIF
format, actually throws out information. Depending on what settings you use, the thrown
out data may or may not be visible to the eye. Once you lower the quality of an image, and
save it, the extra data cannot be regained so be sure to save the original.
Progressive JPEGs
Any JPEG file can be saved as a Progressive JPEG. This is very similar to the interlaced GIF.
As with GIF, this presents a low-quality image to your visitor at first, and over several
passes improves the quality of it. Some graphic editing tools allow you to specify the
number of passes before the image downloads completely.
When to use
As a rule, the JPEG format should be used on photographic images, and images which do
not look as good with only 256 colors.
The PNG format
The third, and newest, file format thats widely supported by the Web is PNG (pronounced
Ping). PNG was developed to surpass the limitations of GIFs, and as a means by which
developers can avoid having to worry about the patent licenses associated with other
formats. PNG was designed to offer the main features of the GIF format, including
streaming and progressive file formats. It also provides greater depth of color, catering to
images up to 24 bit in color.
Its expected that support for PNG will be widespread in the near future, although it will
never completely replace GIF, as it doesnt support animation.

Compression algorithms re-encode image data into more compact representations of the
same information. Think of compression as using fewer words to say the same thing.
Compression Methods
There are basically two types of compression methods: lossy and lossless. Lossy
compression creates smaller files by discarding (losing) some information about the original
image. It removes details and color changes it deems too small for the human eye to
differentiate. Lossless compression, on the other hand, never discards any information
about the original file.
Graphic File Formats
The graphic file formats most browsers support are GIF, JPEG and, more recently,
Progressive JPEG (p-JPEG). New formats are appearing as possible challengers, including
PNG and those based on wavelet compression. Let's take a look at each of these in more
detail.

GIF
The Graphics Interchange Format (GIF, pronounced jiff, though most people say giff) is the
oldest graphic file format on the Web, and all browsers except Lynx support it. GIFs are 8bit images, which limits them to a maximum of only 256 colors.
GIFs use a lossless compression algorithm and support transparency, animation (display of
multiple images within a single GIF file) as well as interlacing.
When you save an image as an interlaced GIF (by checking the Interlaced option box in
Photoshop) and display it inside a web page, visitors to your site will see a low-resolution
image quickly, which gradually comes into focus. Non-interlaced GIFs, on the other hand,
appear as an empty box with a red "X" until the image downloads fully to your web visitor's
computer. The only drawback to interlacing is that it usually increases the file size slightly.
The LZW compression algorithm used in the GIF format is owned by Unisys, and companies
that make products that exploit the algorithm (including the GIF format) need to license its
use from Unisys. As for users of GIF images, however, Unisys does not require a license,
although their licensing statement indicates that it is a requirement. Unisys says that
getting a license from them does not necessarily involve a fee.
Although the LZW compression algorithm used by GIFs is one of the better general purpose
compression algorithms, it wasn't designed specifically for graphics. As a result, it doesn't
work well with bilevel (black and white) or true color images.
GIFs are best suited to flat-color sharp-edged art or text. GIFs retain edge and sharpness
information if there is no dithering. Humans are especially sensitive to edge sharpness, so
GIFs generally appear sharper than JPEGs.
JPEG
JPEG (pronounced jay-peg), is designed for compressing either full-color or gray-scale
images of natural, real-world scenes. JPEG is a lossy compression algorithm. When you
create a JPEG or convert an image from another format to a JPEG, you are asked to specify
the quality of image you want. Since the highest quality results in the largest file, you can
make a trade-off between image quality and file size. The lower the quality, the greater the
compression, and the greater the degree of information loss.
JPEGs are best suited for continuous tone images like photographs or natural artwork; not
so well on sharp-edged or flat-color art like lettering, simple cartoons, or line drawings.
JPEGs support 24-bits of color depth or 16.7 million colors.
JPEG is actually just a compression algorithm, not a file format. JPEG is designed to exploit
certain properties of our eyes, namely, that we are more sensitive to slow changes of
brightness and color than we are to rapid changes over a short distance.
While JPEGs are usually the best choice for photographs, on 8-bit monitors they are forcedithered into an 8-bit palette. JPEG compression is treated as 24 bit data (8 bit for gray),
regardless of the colors in the original image. Therefore, if you reduce an image from 24-bit
to 8-bit prior to JPEG compression, the compression ratio will actually worsen as will the
overall quality.

JPEG compression introduces noise into solid-color areas, which can distort and even blur
flat-color graphics. This is why JPEGs are not well suited to flat-color sharp-edged art or
type. A JPEG can reduce a 900K 24-bit image to 45K (high quality) or 30K (medium
quality), a factor of 20:1 to 30:1. With JPEGs, however, the more you compress, the more
edge definition and sharpness you lose. JPEGs do not support transparency, either.
It is important to note that saving a graphic to JPEG format with compression should be a
last step. Compression effects are cumulative. This means that every time you re-save a
JPEG file, you are compressing it further, and thereby tossing away data (photographic
detail) that you can't get back.
Progressive JPEGs (p-JPEGs) are typically slightly smaller than baseline JPEGs, but their
main advantage is that they appear in stages, giving the effect of the image fading in,
similar to interlaced GIFs, as opposed to painting from the top down.
All Web browsers support GIFs, most support JPEGs, and a rapidly growing number support
progressive JPEGs. All three formats are supported by the latest versions of Netscape and
Internet Explorer.
PNG
The Portable Network Graphic (PNG), pronounced ping, format was designed to be a better,
legally patent-free replacement for GIF. PNG is a lossless compression format for
transmitting a single bitmap image over computer networks. PNG matches all of GIF's
features except animation. PNG has better compression and interlacing than GIF and adds
new features of its own, such as gamma storage, full alpha channel, true color support, and
error detection. PNG supports two methods of transparency, one-color masking and the
other alpha channel. PNG's full alpha channel makes it possible to create beautiful glows
and drop shadows which layer over different-colored backgrounds perfectly.
Gamma is a measure display device brightness. The problem facing web designers is that
gamma values for different platforms and different monitors vary. Macs have a gamma of
about 1.8, and PCs a gamma of 2.2. Since there is no "gamma standard" on the Web,
graphics that look great on a Macintosh may look dark on a PC. GIFs and JPEGs have no
built-in gamma storage, so averaging these two gammas (setting gamma to 2.0) in
Photoshop is one way of dealing with the problem. PNG avoids the problem by allowing
designers to store the gamma of the creation device. When displayed, PNGs automatically
adjust to the host monitor's gamma.
Not all browsers can display PNG's multilevel transparency. Support for PNG by older Web
browsers is mainly through plug-ins.
Because PNG uses the same LZW compression method used in the popular pkzip file
archiving utility, you can't zip PNG files because they are, in effect, already zipped.

Figure 12 - Typical Compression Ratios for Popular Web Graphics Formats

Typical
Compression
Ratios

Description

GIF

4:1 - 10:1

Lossless for images <=== 256 colors. Works best

for flat color, sharp-edged art. Horizontally oriented
bands of color compress better than vertically
oriented bands.

JPEG (High)

10:1 - 20:1

JPEG (Medium)

30:1 - 50:1

Moderate quality - usually the best choice for the

Web.

JPEG (Low)

60:1 - 100:1

Poor quality - suitable for thumbnails and previews.

Visible blockiness (pixelation).

Format

PNG

10-30% smaller
than GIFs

High quality - has little or no loss in image quality

with continuous tone originals. Worse results for flat
color and sharp-edge art.

PNG's behave similarly to GIFs only better; they

work best with flat-color, sharp-edged art. PNGs
compress both horizontally and vertically, so solid
blocks of color generally compress best.