png or jpeg

what is best to use?

[Acternaweb]

Creating a site with few images, but wanted to see if people have commited to PNG or jpegs still dominate. The images varry to a small degree in either format, both acceptable. Let me know what you use.

THanks

[Farix]

Depends on the image. With photo-realistic images, I still stick with JPEG. In every other case, I use PNG. I also have almost no need for GIF since I steer clear of animation.

[webboy1]

I have never used PNG files. I only use JPEGs and Gifs.

So my Bias opinion would be stick with the JPEGs.

Ideally though, you should just use whichever gives the best results in terms of quality and size (memory).

Also, I was not aware Gifs should only be used for anims? Surely if you had a simple 2 colour logo you would save it as a gif rather than a JPEG for both quality and size reasons? I know i would.

Hope this helps.

Webboy

[Farix]

Also, I was not aware Gifs should only be used for anims?

PNG can do almost everything that GIF can do at a much smaller file size except for animation or the most simplest of very small images. MNG is a alternative to animated GIFs, however, support for it very lousy.

[peterdaly]

With the exception of animation, PNGs have for the most part replaced gif's due to (until recently) a patent owned by Unisys which they only started trying to enforce after it's use became wide spread.

In general, many people avoid gif's due to the patent issues. Png is a fine replacement for many areas where previously gif would have been a good choice.

The patent has recently expired IIRC.

In general, jpg's for photo's, pngs for most everything else.

JPG - high compression, but image information and quality is lost. Great for photos where slight quality loss is worth the higher compression.
PNG - generally less compression for complex images (photos), but all image information/quality remains. Great for logos, simple graphics, etc.

[Farix]

The patent issue may have been the reason PNG was created, but it is not the reason it is replacing GIF. Smaller file size for 8-bit images, the ability to handle 24-bit color, alpha-channel transparency, and gamma-channel color correction. The main thing that is really holding up PNG is IE's half-hearted support for alpha-channel transparency.

[drbrain]

PNG also makes a wonderful replacement for TIFFs.

I use PNGs in place of GIFs or TIFFs. JPEG for photos. If you need simple transparency or animation, use GIF.

PS: IE incorrectly handles gamma correction on PNGs, so be sure to strip sRGB and gAMA chunks from your PNGs. You can do this with the 'pngcrush' tool.

[tbear]

Anybody know the browser compatibility stats for jpg, png and gif formats?

[webboy1]

Interesting. I guess i should start using PNG's.

I know it wasn't my thread, but thanks for the advice!

Webboy

[Acternaweb]

Thanks I am not a full time designer nor plan to be, :-) but this has been very helpful. Looks like I will export FW into PNG. Didn't know PNG could replace Tiff.

Is it wise to ask for images in a PNG format now instead of Tiff?

[whoisgregg]

If you are using Fireworks, it's native save format is PNG. However, these files should not be the ones you use on the web as they probably contain vector data that you don't want shared for one of two reasons:

1) It's your artwork and you don't want to give away the original quality work.

2) It's clipart which you are licensed to use but not give away.

Also, a native Fireworks PNG with vector data, layers, etc. is NOT going to be the smallest filesize it could be. The trick? Export... :)