What image file formats to use

Creating or finding images for your website is the hard part; once you're finished, all you have to do is save it and you're done. However, saving your images in the right format might not be something that crossed your mind. Even if it doesn't seem like a big deal, it's important to choose the right format so the picture will render on the web page properly - and in the least amount of time possible.

GIF is best used for diagrams, graphical elements such as frames and backgrounds, and some animations. It is frequently used by designers because it is supported by every browser and platform, meaning that it will render properly no matter what you use to view the web page. Another good thing about saving an image as a GIF is that they can have transparent backgrounds, which means that an image like a logo can have the same color background as the web page. Additionally, GIF images are smaller files and load faster, making them ideal for web use.

JPEG is best used for photographs and detailed illustrations because it supports 24 bit color, whereas GIF only supports 8 bit (which is only 256 colors). Therefore, JPEG is able to better capture and recreate in photographs what is seen in real life. Another benefit of JPEG is that it is better for quality images with faster download times. However, it shouldn't be used for graphical elements, as they might not render properly.

PNG is best used for diagrams and graphical elements; it will be a replacement for GIF. The good thing about PNG images is that they provide the same 24 bit color support that JPEG does while also providing benefits of GIF images, such as transparency and interlacing (which means that the image will appear before it's finished loading because the odd lines will load first, followed by the even ones). Another good thing about PNG is that is allows you to have a text description for your image, which is better for search engine optimization because you can use the description to add more keywords. PNG isn't used as much yet simply because it's not as widely supported as GIF.

For now, it might be best to save your images in GIF and JPEG formats, though PNG should catch up soon. If you still have doubt about what you should save your images as, you can talk to your web designer or web design company to find out what they need.

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