EXPLORE: Image compression & file formats

This table summarises the key differences between the GIF, JPEG and PNG image formats.

GIF	JPEG	PNG-8	PNG-24
Better for clipart and drawn graphics with few colours, or large blocks of colour	Better for photographs with lots of colours or fine colour detail	Better for clipart and drawn graphics with few colours, or large blocks of colour	Better for photographs with lots of colours or fine colour detail
Can only have up to 256 colours	Can have up to 16 million colours	Can only have up to 256 colours	Can have up to 16 million colours
Images are "lossless" - they contain the same amount of information as the original (but with only 256 colours)	Images are "lossy" - they contain less information than the original	Images are "lossless" - they contain the same amount of information as the original (but with only 256 colours)	Images are "lossless" - they contain the same amount of information as the original
Can be animated	Cannot be animated	Cannot be animated	Cannot be animated
Can have transparent areas	Cannot have transparent areas	Can have transparent areas	Can have transparent areas

For more information, go to: http://www.elated.com/tutorials/graphics/general /image_formats/

This information is from the free web resources available at www.elated.com and is copyright Elated Communications Ltd 1996-2001