Image File Formats

Harrow Computer Club Wed, 1

Dec 2010
Bob Watson MA CMath MIMA MBCS

Start at the End

Extension

Colour

Compression

Common Uses

JPG, JPEG

24-bit

Lossy

Photos, web pics

GIF

8-bit

Lossless

Web graphics
buttons, icons, etc

PNG

up to 24bit

Lossless

Web replacement
for GIF

TIF, TIFF

24-bit

Lossless

Professional
Photos etc

Types of Image Files

Vector
Images created from geometrical primitives such as
points, lines, curves and other mathematically
defined shapes

Bitmap
Images recorded as an array of pixels typically
used for the representation of photographic
images

Vector Images
Not really relevant to this talk but we need to define
them so we know what we're not talking about
Stored as instructions, not pixels
eg: Draw Line from point A to point B
with thickness T and colour C
or: Draw Circle with centre at X, radius R,
line thickness T, line color C, inside colour Z
Essentially "drawings" or cartoons
Created by specialist tools such as Adobe Illustrator
or Corel Draw

Vector Images
Files are typically quite small as they contain just
simple instructions not information about every
pixel
Resolution Independent nothing in the
instructions need specify absolute measurements
can all be relative to the picture size
Vector images can be resized (and enlarged in
particular) without any loss of quality

Bitmap Images

Images stored as a rectangular matrix of pixels

Pixel = picture element = a coloured dot
Used for photographs, "paint" images, etc
Can capture more subtlety than vector images
The colour of every separate pixel is stored,
so typical file sizes much larger
Pixel dimensions are fixed - cannot easily be
enlarged
without loss of quality

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x5

File Sizes
Bitmap files typically larger than vector files
For photos, need at least 8-bits for each of the
three primary colours (Red, Green, Blue)
Inkjet printers typically print at 300 or 600 dots
per inch (dpi)
Picture Size

Resolutio
n (dpi)

Pixel Size

Pixels

File Size

6" x 4"
(postcard)

300

1800 x 1200

2M

6 MB

6" x 4"
(postcard)

600

3600 x 2400

8M

24 MB

10" x 8"

300

3000 x 2400

7M

21 MB

10" x 8"

600

6000 x 4800

28M

84 MB

Compression
Lossless
Reduce file size without losing image quality
Not as effective as lossy compression
Prioritise image quality over small file size

Lossy
Take advantage of limitations of human vision
Discard invisible information
Allow variable quality levels (compression)
Lowest Compression

Highest Compression

Larger file size

Smallest file size

Best image quality

Worst image quality

Original
1.5 MB

High
Lossy
Compression
92 KB

Compression
Lossless
RLE (Run Length Encoding) Windows bitmap files
(bmp, ico)
LZW (Lempel-Ziv-Welch) GIF & TIFF files
ZIP TIFF files

Lossy
JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group)
Best suited to photos and paintings of realistic
scenes with smooth variations of tone and colour

Colour
For photos, need 8-bits per primary colour
24-bits (3 bytes) per pixel
16M different colours
Can reduce file size if image does not need
so many distinct colours
Use fewer bits per pixel eg 8-bits (1 byte)

GIF Files

Pictures can contain at most 256 different colours

File format defines a palette of 24-bit colours
Each pixel stored as an 8-bit index into this palette
Use 8-bits (1 byte) per pixel
LZW Compression lossless
Good for images with limited set of
colours such as logos, web buttons etc
Also support animation
Supported by all web browsers
Possible copyright problems

Animated GIF

Animated GIF

JPEG Files
Full 24-bit colour 16 million colours
Compressed with JPEG algorithm
Good for pictures with subtle colour
variations
eg: photographs
Typically produced by digital cameras
Supported by all web browsers

TIFF Files
Tagged Image File Format
Owned by Apple but a published spec
Originally designed as a common format for scanners but
now a popular professional format for colour images,
photos, etc
Can hold various tags as well associated with the image
eg: photographer, copyright, subject details, ...
Supports several compression formats mostly lossless
Commonest is LZW, others include ZIP and JPEG and
NONE!!
Many possible variations
Thousands of Incompatible File Formats

PNG Files
Portable Network Graphics
Designed to replace GIF files as there was a
patent issue with LZW compression
Also eliminates the restriction on number of
colours
Does not support animation
Lossless compression (DEFLATE related to ZIP)
Supported by most modern web browsers

The End
Extension

Colour

Compression

Common Uses

JPG, JPEG

24-bit

Lossy

Photos, web pics

GIF

8-bit

Lossless

Web graphics
buttons, icons, etc

PNG

up to 24bit

Lossless

Web replacement
for GIF

TIF, TIFF

24-bit

Lossless

Professional
Photos etc