Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
Format
Definition
Advantage
Disadvantage
PDF or .pdf
(Portable
Document
Format)
Used for allowing documents to be
viewed and printed independent
of the application used to create
them. Often used for transferring
printed pages over the Web, either
for downloading existing publica-
tions or for sending documents
to commercial printers for output.
Commonly used sharing through
e-mail and over the Internet.
TIFF or .tif
(Tagged
Image File
Format)
Used for placing images or graph-
ics in documents created in word
processing, page layout, or drawing
programs. Supports rasterized data
and converts vectored images to
bits. TIFF files can be cropped or
edited. Similar to EPS, but smaller
file size saves memory over EPS
format.
TIFF supports lay-
ered files, which
allows editing
images in software
programs like
Photoshop. TIFFs
retain color informa-
tion while being
much smaller than
RAW. Can be saved
with minimum com-
pression making it
ideal for printing
large sized high-
resolution images.
Though smaller
than RAW files, TIFF
files are not small.
Depending on the
resolution of your
camera, files can be
in the 5 to 15MB
range. TIFFs are not
widely supported
by Web browsers,
which makes them
a poor choice for
online use.
RAW
(Extension
varies per
camera
brand. For
example, .nef
for Nikon, .cr2
for Canon)
Professional-grade cameras offer a
couple more compression formats,
like RAW. The RAW file format is
best for archiving because it is the
purest unaltered format available
(retains the most digital informa-
tion).
Sometimes referred to as a digital
negative.
No compression has
been applied. Every
bit of information
collected from a
camera's sensor has
been preserved.
RAW image files
can be very large,
upwards of 40 to
50MB per photo
with a high-mega-
pixel camera.
Once a RAW image
has been manipu-
lated, a copy has to
be saved in another
form, such as a TIFF
or JPEG.
 
 
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