In this article we will be talking about the types of digital images, so keep reading to find out everything about this interesting topic.
Know all types of digital images
Types of digital images
There are two types of digital images in general:
- Vector images
- Bitmap images
Vector images are images formed by geometric objects independent of each other (lines, curves, polygons, etc.) with mathematical attributes (vectors) that specify their properties (shape, color, position,…). Bitmap images are made up of tiny dots (pixels) that each have color and brightness information.
Have you ever wondered what types of digital image formats exist? In this tutorial we will talk about the most popular digital image formats today.
The data of a graphic, be it a photograph, a logo or anything else, is saved in a digital image format. There are many different formats, but some have emerged as the most popular.
What are the types of digital image formats that exist?
Although there are numerous image file formats, only a few have established themselves as the most important. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages, but the following are by far the most popular:
JPG
It is a lossy compression format that was formed out of the need to minimize the size of image files. It has been one of the most popular image formats for many years.
Compared to formats like BMP, JPG has excellent performance and saves a lot of space. It's great for casual photography, but it's not the ideal choice for professionals, as the loss of quality is evident, at least under these circumstances.
PNG
The PNG format is a bitmap image format that gets its name from Portable Network Graphics. This format, which was first introduced in 1995, has a number of advantages over other formats.
This format supports real transparency, which is a very important advantage, and this means that an image saved in this format can be used later as a sticker or on web pages. If you use the proper tools, you can convert PNG photos to JPG without sacrificing quality.
BMP
The BMP format is quite old; It was first established by Microsoft in 1986 and was long the industry standard for digital photos and graphics. However, in recent years it has become much less popular.
As the BMP format is not a compression format, one of its drawbacks is that images often carry a lot of data. Although its quality is excellent; if you want to make changes to the image, you need to use a different format.
Although the weight issue is important, you can also explore the possibility of reducing an image with BMP, as there are numerous methods to do so.
GIF
Graphics Interchange Format, which translates to Graphics Interchange Format, is the name of the GIF file format. This format was created in 1987, but it is still quite popular today. It is a lossless format, however you can only use 256 colors as a drawback.
One of the most notable advantages of this format, and the reason for its widespread use, is the ability to produce animated graphics. This functionality is probably what saved the format from extinction, as it is still used today on platforms such as WhatsApp and Facebook.
SVG
SVG is a vector format that has been gaining popularity, especially among web developers. It is a scalable format that can also be compressed. Images in this format, in fact, are much lighter than those in other formats.
In fact, since this format can be used on personal pages, it is reasonable to know the advantages and disadvantages of using SVG on a website to assess whether it is appropriate for this purpose.
RAW format
RAW does not refer to a specific format, but to all graphics that have not been compressed. To put it another way, RAW formats handle photos with minimal processing, making them extremely efficient to work with.
Photographers and other graphic content creators use this file type the most. It allows to obtain the material in an almost unprocessed state. Very convenient appearance for modifying image files. This is how far the article has come. If it was to your liking, we recommend that you visit the following one that deals with system software examples.