JPEG vs. GIF vs. PNG What’s the difference?

JPEG

JPEG Stands for “Joint Photographics Expert Group“ Used to compress photos and complex images The information that is lost is mostly what humans can’t see

Stands for “Joint Photographics Expert Group“

Used to compress photos and complex images

The information that is lost is mostly what humans can’t see

JPEG Uses small squares of shaded colours called pixels Not good for letters, drawings or simple graphics, as there is nothing to get rid of

Uses small squares of shaded colours called pixels

Not good for letters, drawings or simple graphics, as there is nothing to get rid of

GIF

GIF “ Graphics Interchange Format” Doesn’t remove any quality when compressing Multiple images can be combined to create simple GIF animations

“ Graphics Interchange Format”

Doesn’t remove any quality when compressing

Multiple images can be combined to create simple GIF animations

GIF Only good for simple graphics, as it only supports 256 colours Can also be edited to be transparent, allowing background images/text to show through

Only good for simple graphics, as it only supports 256 colours

Can also be edited to be transparent, allowing background images/text to show through

Animated GIFs

PNG

PNG “ Portable Network Graphics” Upgraded version of GIF, as it can be the same quality but 20-25% smaller Doesn’t support animation

“ Portable Network Graphics”

Upgraded version of GIF, as it can be the same quality but 20-25% smaller

Doesn’t support animation

Summary JPEG: used to compress complex images by creating coloured pixels, but reduces quality GIF: used to compress simple images without loss of quality, but only supports 256 colours PNG : upgraded version of GIF but doesn’t support animation

JPEG: used to compress complex images by creating coloured pixels, but reduces quality

GIF: used to compress simple images without loss of quality, but only supports 256 colours

PNG : upgraded version of GIF but doesn’t support animation