Image Formats - Basics
There are a lot of image formats and hundreds of software programmes capable of converting image formats from one to another. Sometimes individual graphic (image) format is native for some graphic application and may be as an export option in another graphic application (or may be not). In that case may arise a need to convert specific image into native format of that graphic application. Here is a list of some graphic applications and their native image formats:
- CDR - CorelDRAW
- CPP - Corel Photo-Paint
- PSD - Adobe Photoshop
- PDD - Adobe PhotoDeluxe
- AI - Adobe Illustrator
- UFO - Ulead PhotoImpact
- PSP - Paint Shop Pro
- MIX - Microsoft PictureIt and PhotoDraw
Besides, there are a number of image formats that are considered as standard. A standard image format is one that is cross-platform compatible and supported by the majority of graphics applications.
The most common standard bitmap-based image formats are TIFF (Tagged Image File Format), JPG (Joint Photographic [Experts] Group), GIF (Graphics Interchange Format), and PNG (Portable Network Graphics). On the Windows platform BMP (Bit Mapped Pictures) is a standard format and PICT is a standard bitmap format on the Macintosh. Photoshop’s PSD format is supported to some degree by most graphics applications, but you should take into account that transferring PSD between non-Adobe applications may give unexpected results.
The most common standard vector-based formats are EPS (Encapsulated PostScript) and AI. On the Windows platform, most vector-based software also supports WMF (Windows Metafile Format) and EMF (Microsoft Enhanced Metafile Format) formats.
While sending files over the Internet or transporting them between graphics applications, it is recommended to use one of these standard formats, or the results may be unexpected. When sending graphic images via email and the Web, it is best to use JPEG or GIF format, which can be displayed by any Web browser on any computer. If in doubt, ask the recipient of your files which image formats they can accept.
Sources: http://graphicssoft.about.com/od/aboutgraphics/a/convertgraphics.htm, http://graphicssoft.about.com/od/glossary/g/nativeformat.htm, http://graphicssoft.about.com/library/glossary/bldefstandardformat.htm