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Image Formats

We're going to look at three image formats related to the Internet: GIF, JPEG, and PNG. We'd like to understand their basic structure, what they're good for, and how they differ from each other. We'll also take a look at the GIF Licensing Controversy and read the official verbiage from the source, Unisys.

To get the basics under our belt, I would reccommend starting out with a basic primer on image file formats. This will give you some background in what constitutes an image. Note that the reading is just the links in the dictionary list titles (<dt> tags). The other links are used if you want to go further.

GIF

Choosy Developers Choose GIF 89a (http://www.cnet.com/Content/Features/Techno/Gif89/index.html)

c|net has a decent article on animated GIFs using the GIF 89a standard. It is not however, as detailed as the Official Specification (in Microsoft Word format).

JPEG

What is JPEG? (http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet/jpeg-faq/part1/faq-doc-1.html)

This is a very short introduction to the JPEG standard.

What is Progressive JPEG? (http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet/jpeg-faq/part1/faq-doc-11.html)

A nice short description of progressive JPEG.

JPEG Image Compression FAQ, part 1 of 2 (http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet/jpeg-faq/part1/faq.html)

The items above were taken from the this JPEG FAQ. Check out sections 2 and 14 . If you're looking for something a more technical, try the part of the JPEG FAQ that explains some of the inner workings of JPEG.

PNG

PNG, Portable Network Graphics (http://www.group42.com/png.htm)

This is a very brief introduction to the PNG format. It's a nice light, read however. Anybody notice the irony?

PNG Specification (http://www.boutell.com/boutell/png/png.html)

More than you'd ever want to know about PNG. Read sections 1, 3, and 8 (skip subsection 3).

Image Format Comparisons

Graphics Formats: JPEG & GIF

A nice short comparison of JPEG and GIF formats