File Formats Research Part 3

.PSD - Photoshop Document

A .PSD is the native file format used for when you save something in Adobe Photoshop. Which you've made edits to. Photoshop was developed by Adobe Systems and is a raster graphics editor which also supports editing and composing multi-layer raster images, masks, alpha compositing and several colour masks such as CMYK and RGB. Rendered text, vector graphics, 3D graphics and video can all be used in photoshop and saved as a .PSD though some of these capabilities are limited.

What uses does a .PSD have and why use a .PSD?

Photoshop is predominantly used in photograph editing, hence its name, but it can also be used to create graphics and render text for print and publishing which would later be taken into Indesign. Whilst it is easier and better to render text in Indesign because you wont lose any quality or sharpness form the text, it is entirely possible to complete and write up your text in photoshop but you'd need to export it as a .png with a transparent background. .PSDs are used to hold images which have multiple layers and come with the advantage of being directly editable which is why they are used in todays publishing and publishing companies.

.SVG - Scalable Vector Graphics

.SVGs are an XML-based vector image format of two-dimensional graphics much like .AI files but with the support of interactivity and animation. This file format is used within publishing because of its Scalability, like .AI files but the main difference between them is being the fact that .SVG files can be added to websites and image hosting sites whereas an .AI file would have to be exported

What uses does a .SVG have and why use a .SVG?

Think of a .SVG as a more practical and usable .AI file. Whilst they are not as directly editable as .AI files, .SVGs are able to be displayed on websites and can also support the use of animation if needed. These are used because of a number of different reasons, the first and main reason being that A) It's a vector file and B) It's a more accessible and usable .AI file. The image/animation can be scaled up or down if needed and wont lose quality whilst also being able to be displayed on a webpage unlike .AI files.

.GIF - Graphics Interchange Format

.GIF files are bitmap image formats which were first introduced by CompuServe in 1987 and is now one of the largest and widespread file formats in usage on the World Wide Web today because of its portability and support across platforms. The .GIF format only features up to a palette of 256 different colours chosen from a 24-bit RGB colour space but also supports the feature of animations and allows a different palette of up to 256 colours for each frame.

What uses does a .GIF have and why use a .GIF?

GIFS are used in web design and creation mainly because of their ability to hold animation and their file size being relatively low dependent on its resolution size. These are featured and plastered over websites and give a visual aid as well as can be thought provoking making the plain piece of text stronger and seem more interesting. Though not used in publishing all that much, they are essential to any website which wishes to be informative but also give a sense of informal and not necessarily colloquial tone of voice but friendly manner. They can also be used to strength and provide more information for formal and important written pieces too.