JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group)

JPEG image format are used by digital cameras to store photos. Because it uses lossy compression so cameras can store more photos on one camera card. Its useful for photographs but not for content like diagrams or charts which require sharpness.

  • Mime type: image/jpeg
  • File extensions: .jpg .jpeg .jpe .jif .jfif

GIF (Graphics Interchange Format)

GIF image format uses lossless compression. Its good for animation as well. This format is not used for photography because of limited number of colors.

  • Mime type: image/gif
  • File extensions: .gif

PNG (Portable Network Graphics)

PNG image format uses lossless or lossy compression. Supports higher color depth than GIF. For photographs not as good as JPEG because of larger file size. Good for images with text or line art as well.

  • Mime type: image/png
  • File extensions: .png

SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics)

SVG is a XML based vector graphics format. They are ideal for images that can be drawn accurately at any size.

  • Mime type: image/svg+xml
  • File extension: .svg

TIFF (Tagged Image File Format)

TIFF image format was created to store scanned photos. They are larger than images in other formats because of the metadata included. Also they are uncompressed.

  • Mime type: image/tiff
  • File extensions: .tif, .tiff

BMP (Bitmap)

BMP is most prevalent on Windows computers. They are uncompressed, so file sizes are larger than other formats.

  • Mime type: image/bmp
  • File extensions: .bmp

Choosing image format

  • Photographs - JPEG
  • Icons - SVG or PNG
  • Screenshots - PNG or JPEG
  • Diagrams, Charts - SVG or PNG

References: