Here at Pumpkin Web Design Manchester, we are Manchester’s leading web design experts. We provide, high quality, effective, web design solutions for local companies and businesses across Manchester, and the surrounding area, including Wigan and Southport. As a result, we have produced this guide to everything you should know about the different image formats for website imagery.
What are the different image formats for website imagery?
When adding images to your website its important that you choose the correct image format to ensure high quality and effective visual results. The most commonly used image formats include:
- JPEG- Joint Photographic Experts Group
- PNG- Portable Network Graphic
- WebP
- SVG- Scalable Vector Graphic
- GIF- Graphics Interchange Format
Using JPEG imagery in web design
The JPG image format is one of the most common image formats used online as this offers effective compression and universal support. This is also the standard file format for digital cameras as the format is used for saving photographs with a small file size, with a minimal loss in quality.
The benefits of using JPG imagery include universal browser support and a small file size. However when using this file format you will need to ensure that the file is saved with the correct size and resolution for the end-usage.
This image format is not to be used for computer generated graphics.
Using PNG imagery in web design
PNG files are standard across the internet although these are pixel based and cannot be scaled up without pixilation. This means that they need to be saved as the correct size and resolution, just like JPGs. However, PNGs do support transparency are perfect for graphics, and can appear clean and crisp on digital and mobile displays.
The benefits of PNG image formats include universal browser support, lossless compression, and high quality for graphical imagery.
Using WebP imagery in web design
WebP is an image format developed by Google in 2010 specifically to provide better lossless compression for website imagery. This can help to save server space because the image compression will maintain the clarity of the original image while also reducing file size, which means less data consumption and faster downloads. However, this image format is not supported by most CMS platforms and is not compatible with some internet browsers.
Using SVG imagery in web design
The SVG image format doesn’t use a pixel format as this is instead a type of vector image, which means that the image can easily scale and maintain super high quality. As a result, this is one of the most effective image formats for logos and imagery where sharpness, scalability and definition is essential.
Using GIF imagery in web design
GIF format images are the only animated image format supported in all major web browsers and these can be highly compressed to reduce file size. These are best used for animated graphics where few colors are needed.
For more information or advice about image formats for your website, or any other professional web design and marketing information get in touch with the experts today, here at Pumpkin Web Design Manchester.