#2 Image File Extensions

Two commonly used image file extensions are JPEG and GIF, but do you really know the difference in image quality between the two?

JPEG stands for Joint Photographic Experts Group. This format name was named after the organisation that created it. JPEG is a good format choice for compressing images and picture files that contain a lot of tonal changes, such as photographs. As a result, your photo images will remain in good quality even after its file size has been reduced. On the other hand, JPEG format is not recommended for graphics that have many areas of solid colours.

GIF stands for Graphics Interchange Format and its a good format to choose when it comes to saving icons, button images or any picture that have large areas of solid colours and sharp lines. Hence if your image contains a lot of text, saving it in GIF format will be the best choice. In contrast with JPEG, GIF format doesn't work very well for photographs or images with tonal changes.

Now that you know the difference, you'll be able to better optimise your images to maintain the best quality for your site!