Graphic Formats

Following is a couple of general rules I use for using various graphic formats

GIF (Graphics Interchange Format):

• lossless compression
• maximum of a 256 color pallet
• ideal for buttons and images that only contain 3 colors
• print screens can be converted from a 1.4Meg Bitmap >> 13K gif
• can have transparent area's and animation

JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group):

• ideal for photos
• not recommended for long term storage for future re-editing
• lossy compression, resaving can reduce file size, but image quality reduces every save
• variable compression
• millions of colors (24-bit), better for web images that require more than 256 colors

PNG (Portable Network Graphic):

• uses a lossless compression similar to GIF
• can support up to 32-bit color, transparency
• not able to be viewed by all web browsers, some require a plug-in

TIFF (Tagged-Image File Format):

• ideal for long term image storage
• no loss during image saving, uses LZW, lossless file compression
• useful for exchanging files between applications and computer platforms (MAC-PC)

Color Standards

PMS = PANTONE MATCHING SYSTEM® - used for printing inks. PANTONE books are available from printers and graphic arts supply stores and are best converted to CMYK before RGB.

CMYK = cyan (C), magenta (M), yellow (Y) and black (K), used in printing and is described as four-color process printing .

RGB = Red, Green and Blue, known as the three primary colors. Predominantly found in computer monitors. When each of the colors are over lapped it produces the three secondary colors, cyan, magenta and yellow.

There are as many graphics software applications as there are graphics formats if not more. Following is a couple that have been more than helpful:

• Adobe's PhotoShop - The Rolls Royce of image manipulation software, ideal for photo processing to any format, JPEG, TIFF
• Macromedia's Fireworks - Can not go past this one for web graphics, especially GIF's
• Microsoft's Paint - Occasionally the only place to start, well ok, rarely
• Primo PDF - free PDF printer for Windows
• Alchemy Mindworks' GIF Construction Set - An excellent buy for GIF animation, does not produce the actual images, puts together the animation, can also add copyright comment in the file
• Gold-software's Advanced Batch Converter - File format converter, bmp >> ico
• Acute Systems' TransMac - Get those TIFF images off a MAC CD, PC's and MAC have different CD formats, this utility allows a PC to read and convert the file from a MAC CD
• Zeon's DocuCom PDF Driver - Produce PDF files easily from Word and Excel, works with most other applications, but not Quark Express or applications that print natively in CMYK