All About File Formats

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All About File Formats

• Mr. Butler
• John Jay High School
• Department of Technology

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Why Study File Formats?

• Important to recognize which formats should be
  used with the appropriate task
• Your not wasting your time spending hours working
  in the wrong file format
• Help understand the different file formats and
  help you choose the right one for each project

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Native file formats
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Native file formats

• When you save a document in the same format as
  the program youre working in.
• Ex. If you save a Photoshop image as a Photoshop
  file (instead of as a TIFF of JPEG).

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Non-Native file formats

• The type of file formats that each software
  program can create or accept
• Sometime you cannot open new files in old
  programs
• Ex. Using Microsoft Word XP at school and trying
  to open it at home using Microsoft Word 98

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Non-Native file formats

• Exporting or saving as non-native file formats
• Export a file or Save As with a different name
  and format
• Importing and opening non-native file formats
• Importing bringing a non-native file into an
  existing page of an application
• May also be called insert, Get Picture, Place
• Open just as if it was its own native format,
  some programs may just open it!

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File Formats that Photoshop can open on a Mac
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TIFF files
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TIFF files

• TIFF is an acronym for Tagged Image File Format
• Is a raster (bitmapped) file format
• Almost every raster program, such as image
  editing or paint programs, can save as TIFFs and
  can be import TIFFs
• TIFF is also the best format to use between
  Windows and Macintosh.

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Scanning as TIFF

• TIFF was originally created for scanning

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LZW compression

• Compression means the information in the file is
  squished so the file takes up less disk space.
• There are two generic types of compression
• Lossy some data in the files is lost
• Lossless no data is lost during compression
• LWZ stands for Lempel, Ziv, and Welch (the three
  creators of compression)

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EPS files (vector)

• Encapsulated PostScript

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DCS files
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DCS files

• The DCS format is an acronym for Desktop Color
  Separation
• DCS was developed by Quark to allow programs to
  read CMYK files correctly.

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PICT files
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PICT files (Macintosh)

• PICT is short for picture
• Created by Apple for images on the first
  Macintosh systems
• A PICT file can contain both vector and raster
  information

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BMP files
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BMP files (Windows)

• Windows has a BMP format (windows Bitmap)
• BMP files are primarily used to create the
  wallpaper images that fill the background of the
  Windows screen

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WMF files (windows)

• The WMF stands for Windows Metafile
• Is a vector format for use on the Windows
  platform
• Should only be used with multimedia programs
  (only when needed)

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GIF files
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GIF file format

• GIF is an acronym for Graphical Interchange
  Format
• Pronounced gif, not jif because it stands for
  graphical
• GIF format can be displayed on any computer
• GIF was originally created by CompuServe Online
  for transferring images online

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GIF file format

• GIF images are found everywhere on the World Wide
  Web
• GIF image must use the Index color mode, which
  has a maximum of 256 colors (8-bit)

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PNG files
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PNG file format

• PNG is an acronym for Portable Network Graphic
• Pronounced ping
• Similar to GIF
• PNG files can support 24-bit color (millions of
  colors) and transparency without jagged edges

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JPEG files
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JPEG files

• JPEG is an acronym for Joint Photographic Experts
  Group
• Pronounced jay peg
• JPEG is a compression format that makes images
  into smaller files
• JPEG is a lossy compression
• Many stock photo companies save their images with
  JPEG compression

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PDF files
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PDF files

• PDF is an acronym for Portable Document Format
• It is a compression scheme that embeds, right
  within the file
• All the necessary information to view a single
  document is present
• Text, images, page breaks, fonts, etc.

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Any Questions

• Take a moment and finish up any blank questions
  on your notes sheet.