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Evergreen explanations of image formats, compression concepts, and conversion.

PDF vs Word PDF locks a document's exact appearance across every device; Word keeps it editable and reflowable. What Is a PDF? A portable document format that displays identically on any device, OS, or printer. JPG vs PNG JPG compresses photographs by discarding detail; PNG preserves every pixel and supports transparency. PNG vs WebP PNG is the lossless workhorse for graphics and transparency; WebP delivers similar quality in dramatically smaller files. WebP vs AVIF WebP is the widely supported modern format; AVIF pushes compression further at the cost of encode time and edge-case compatibility. JPEG vs JPG JPEG and JPG refer to the same image format, the shorter name is a leftover from old three-letter filename limits. Lossy vs Lossless Compression Two philosophies of shrinking files, one throws away detail you likely won't miss, the other preserves every bit. Raster vs Vector Graphics Raster images store a grid of colored pixels; vector graphics store math that redraws itself at any size. What Is Transparency in Digital Images Transparency lets pixels reveal whatever sits behind them instead of showing a solid color. What Is Image Compression? The process of shrinking an image file by removing redundant or imperceptible data. How Image Conversion Works Conversion is really a decode-then-re-encode round trip, and each half shapes the result. What Is PDF Compression? Reducing the size of a PDF by re-encoding its pages, images, and streams. When to Use PNG Pick PNG when you need transparency, sharp edges, or lossless preservation of flat graphics. When to Use JPG Choose JPG when the image is photographic, opaque, and destined for the web or email. Why WebP Is Smaller Than JPG and PNG WebP borrows video-codec tricks, smarter prediction and entropy coding, to beat JPG and PNG at their own jobs. Image Formats: A Practical Overview The common file types used to store pictures, and what each one is actually good at. Image Transparency by Format: PNG, WebP, GIF, JPG, AVIF, SVG How each common image format handles see-through pixels, or refuses them.