Common Image Types

	JPG	PNG	GIF	SVG
File Extension	.jpg	.png	.gif	.svg/.svgz
Short for	Joint Photographic Experts Group	Portable Network Graphics	Graphics Interchange Format	Scalable Vector Graphics
Color Range	16.7 Million colors, 24 bit RGB and CMYK	Direct Color (thousands of colors). 8 Bit, 24 Bit RGB or 32 Bit RGBA	256 Colors, 8 bit	16 Million colors, supports sRGB gradients
Transparency	Not supported	Alpha Channel transparrency enables blending, shading and opacity gradients.	One color is set as transparent, no shading or grading of transparency	Multi-level transparency and opacity supported
Pros	With jpeg you can compress complex graphics to a manageable file size	“Lossless” compression means no pixilation and crisp edges, combined with userful transparency features	Typically very small file sizes. Animation is supported	“Lossless” scalable vectors, for any device and printing, also compresses well
Cons	Cons “Lossy” compression means poorer quality with reduced file size and with multiple edits and savers. Typography often suffers blurred edges	Typically larger file sizes than jpegs. (Around 5 times larger than jpegs on mot photos)	Doesn’t handle complex graphicy od depth of color	Not supported on a few older browser versions. Saving photos not really possible.
Best for	Photos, complex graphics, color tones	Screenshots, Typography and maintaining image quality	Small vectors, logos, crisp edged graphics, novelty drawings and simple animations or transitions	Scalable backgrounds, text, vector images