Use GIF and JPG for online publishing. Although other formats for online publishing are in development, at present GIF and JPG are the standards. Use EPS and TIFF for print publishing. If all your printing is sent to your desktop printer, you may be able to use other formats including CGM and PCX with acceptable results; however, for high-resolution output EPS and TIFF will provide the least hassles and the best quality. They are the standards for high-resolution printing.
In addition to the formats in the chart, below, there are proprietory graphics file formats. These are bitmap or vector formats used by specific graphics programs. Although some desktop publishing software will recognize the more common formats such as PSD from Adobe Photoshop (bitmap) or CDR from CorelDRAW (vector) it is generally best to convert these images to TIF or EPS or other common graphics file formats.
This simple chart outlines the best use for several common formats. Match the format to your job either by starting with graphics in that format or by converting other artwork to the desired format.
| Format: | Designed for: | Top choice for: |
| BMP | Screen display under Windows | Windows Wallpaper |
| EPS | Printing to PostScript printers/Imagesetters | High resolution printing of illustrations |
| GIF | Screen display, especially the Web | Online publishing of photographic images |
| JPEG, JPG | Screen display, especially the Web | Online publishing of photographic images |
| PICT | Screen display on Macintosh or printing to non-PostScript printer | |
| TIFF, TIF | Printing to PostScript printers | High resolution printing of images |
| WMF | Screen display under Windows or printing to non-PostScript printer | Transfer vector images via the clipboard |
