There are so many different file extensions for images and documents that it can get very confusing about which format to use and for what. Should I use a png, jpg file, pdf, Docx, and so forth? Understanding the answer to this question is important as it will affect the visual quality of the final document.
In this article, we will help you understand when to use a jpg file. This format has been around a long time and because of that, it might be easy to think it is just an ‘old’ format type. That would be a big mistake because jpg files are very useful, read on to learn why.
In the Beginning
That might sound like the beginning of a very famous book but actually, we’re talking about the creation of jpg. When you understand what is a jpg and why jpg was created, then you are best placed to see how to use it and for what purposes. JPG is an acronym for the Joint Photographic Experts Group.
This format was designed in the 1990s to be an easy way to share photographic images using an electronic format. If you think about the speed and ability of the internet back then, you can see why there was a great need to compress or reduce the file size of photos. That is what jpg does, it reduces the file size of the photo by getting rid of needed information.
This type of compression is ‘lossy’ because you lose information. Depending on the purpose of the file usage, that lost information may be imperceivable.
When to Use a JPG File
As camera technology has improved, the file size of digital photographs has also increased significantly. That means if you want to use these images on your website they will need to be compressed to a friendly format so they don’t take forever to load.
A JPG file is an excellent format to do that. In fact, this format contains less information than the popular png format and so when used correctly is one of the most efficient formats for your website. To make the best use of this format and retain the highest quality of the image, it is good practice to make sure the image dimensions are appropriate for its usage.
This means you need to make sure all the editing and adjustments to the image are made first and then save to the jpg file format. After that, it can be uploaded to your site and used effectively. If you have a png file you can use a png to jpg converter.
Go Go JPG
In this article, you’ve read about when to use a jpg file. This type of file format is excellent for internet sites and other electronic media as it will load fast and offers a smaller file size. To use this format to best effect, make sure all the image editing is complete and the image dimensions are appropriate to the usage.
JPG has been around a long time and continues to be one of the most popular formats for the reasons described in this article. You can check out other helpful articles related to digital marketing on our site.
