JPEG

JPEG is the most popular image format and is used extensively on the web especially for displaying photos or images with many colours. The name stands for Joint Photographic Experts Group, the standards body that created and maintains the format specification.

As opposed to the GIF format, JPEG uses lossy compression so when it is saved at low quality, the image can appear blocky or blurred. High quality JPEG images can have very large file sizes. JPEG does not support transparency or animation.

PNG is another format that is gaining popularity, particularly in the open source sector.

See also: TIFF