General:
Formats
Relative Size
Color and Format

Microsoft Tools:
Photo Editor
Image Composer - The Working Environment
Image Composer - Colors and Effects
Image Composer - Layers and Sprites

Paint Shop Pro:
Introduction
Opening/Acquiring
Editing
Layering
An insertion example
A lettering example
Saving

Images Applied:
The Web
PowerPoint (animations)

Elsewhere on this site:
General Instructional Technology
Presentation/Web
Imaging
Sound
Video
Home

Pictures, Icons, and other Images: File Formats

This document gives a general introduction to the world of computer-delivered images  It is assumed that you will be using some sort of image editing software which gives you some choices.  The most common in Fayette County Public Schools are those bundled in Microsoft's Office2000 and FrontPage 2000, but there are lots of others, most notably Paint Shop Pro, Corel Draw, and Adobe PhotoShop - all industry standards.  

Proprietary formats:  Most image software packages have some sort of proprietary format in which on-going work can be saved, and all settings/choices/layers are left intact for further manipulation.  As an example, Paint Shop Pro's proprietary format has the extension ".PSP."  Since these formats are only readable by the software producing them, they cannot be used in posting to the Web or inclusion in documents.  In general, you should use the software's proprietary format as you work, then convert to one of the other formats when you are finished.  Be sure to keep files in the proprietary format, in case you want to go back and change anything! 

Bitmap (.bmp):  These files are usually the end product of someone working in Microsoft Paint.  Never post anything on the Web in this format - the files are HUGE!  However, inclusion in PowerPoint or other documents is fine.

GIF (.gif):  GIF stands for Graphics Interchange Format, and is one of the oldest Web image formats.  It requires no processing on the client (it’s displayed in the same format in which it’s stored), and so is the most client-forgiving of the formats.  It can have a designated transparent layer (see Color), making it good for icons or embedded images which require a background or other image to show through.  It also can contain several pictures that are played as an animated movie sequence.

JPEG (.jpg):  JPEG is an acronym for Joint Photographic Experts Group, the organization that invented the format.  It is the second most common of the Web image formats.  It requires some processing when opened, so it is more client-intensive than GIFs.  However, for the color complexity of real images such as photographs, it is better suited, and will be smaller (all other things being equal) in file size than a GIF for such images.  

Encapsulated PostScript (.eps):  This format is not produced by the "amateur" (i.e. cheap) image manipulation programs.  Since it is a universally-used graphics format for typesetting, it is produced and edited by the "big guns" like Adobe PhotoShop or Corel Draw. The format has the advantage of using and storing vector graphics, which scale much better than the common Web formats - that is, if you make them really big, the lines don't have jagged edges.  If you intend to submit graphics for signs or print layouts, EPS is your format - but be prepared to spend a few bucks!  Since the resultant file sizes are quite large (larger even than bitmaps in some cases), this format should not be used in ordinary documents or on the Web.