GIFs+and+JPEGs

**What is the difference between GIFs and JPEGs?**
Both file formats are "lossy" compression formats designed to make picture files as small as possible for delivery on the internet. Because of the different mathematical algorithms in each format, some images look better in GIF format while others look better in JPEG.

The general rule of thumb is use JPEG for photographs and GIFs for artwork. However, some illustrations with a lot of changes in tones and shades (i.e. airbrush artwork or photo-realistic illustrations) should be saved as JPEGs.

Also, transparency is not supported in the JPEG format, so if your photograph is a silhouette that requires transparency, you'll have to save it as a GIF.

An alternative web format is PNG. Typically, PNG files are larger than JPEGs or GIFs so many web designers choose not to use this format for publishing.