Harvard Extension School, Fall 2018
CSCI E-12 Fundamentals of Web Site Development

## Graphics Formats for the Web

Property | GIF Graphics Interchange Format | JPEG Joint Photographic Experts Group | PNG Portable Network Graphic | SVG Scalable Vector Graphics
--- | --- | --- | --- | ---
Color System | 8 bit indexed (256 colors) | RGB (24 bit; millions of colors) | 8 bit indexed (256 colors) RGB (24 bit; millions of colors) | 24 bit; millions of colors
Compression | Lossless Compression (LZW; horizontal repeating units) | "Lossy" Compression (compression optimized for gradual color changes) | Lossless Compression | Lossless Compression
Other Features | `.gif` file extension Transparency Animation | `.jpg` and `.jpeg` file extensions No Transparency No Animation | `.png` file extension Transparency | `.svg` file extension Vector-based Transparency XML format
Typical Uses | Illustrations (logos, icons) Animated banners and icons Images with small dimension | Photographs | Any | Illustrations Graphs, Charts, Maps - 'plain' and 'interactive'
Property | GIF Graphics Interchange Format | JPEG Joint Photographic Experts Group | PNG Portable Network Graphic | SVG Scalable Vector Graphics
Photograph 250 × 188 px | 29.3 kb | 16.8 kb | 25.8 kb (indexed, 8-bit) | 81.9 kb (RGB, 24-bit) | N/A
Illustration 148 × 179 px | 1.47 kb | 6.12 kb | 1.02 kb (indexed, 8-bit) | 1.89 kb (RGB, 24-bit) | 0.575 kb (compressed, 1.7 kb uncompressed; RGB, 24-bit)

Hot Air Balloon image is in the Public Domain and was obtained from PD Photo.

Illustration image from the original works of David Heitmeyer

Copyright © David Heitmeyer