Table 7.1 File Formats Available in Photoshop and Photoshop
Elements
File Format Purpose
Photoshop Photoshop and Photoshop Elements native format. This format
enables you to retain the channels, layers, paths, and other settings
you used editing an image. In Windows, this format uses the .psd
extension.
CompuServe GIF Graphics Interchange Format created by CompuServe (now AOL).
GIF became a Web standard because of its lossless compression and
capability to save images in specific 256-color palettes. Licensing
and royalty issues with the GIF compression format (LZW) have
forced some Web developers to choose the PNG format instead. In
Windows, this format uses the .gifextension.
JPEG Joint Photographic Experts Group format. By far the most popular
format for images because of its continuous tone and compression
capabilities. JPEG provides variable compression capabilities. In
Windows, this format uses the .jpgextension.
Photoshop PDF Portable Document Format. Saves images that Adobe Acrobat
reader can open and display. This Photoshop format is mainly used
for documents or drawings that need to be portable among page-
layout applications, such as FrameMaker, QuarkXPress, and Adobe
InDesign. Photoshop PDF format can include vector data, such as
text and specific fonts. In Windows, this format uses the .pdfexten-
sion.
Pixar A 3D format used with 3D Pixar workstations. Photoshop is capable
of opening and saving images that will be used for 3D shapes and
3D animation. This format was created by Pixar Studios, the pro-
ducers of Toy Storyand Finding Nemo. In Windows, this format uses
the .pxrextension.
RAW A raw image format that includes no information about the image
data. You must know the image information beforehand. This for-
mat is designed for scientific applications that do not yet have a
standard. A warning: Images saved in this format might not be
recoverable because you must know the correct settings before sav-
ing. In Windows, this format uses the .rawextension.
TARGA A flexible image format that supports images of any dimensions
with between 1 and 32 bits of color. This format was originally cre-
ated to allow text to be laid over video. When saving an RGB
image in this format, you can choose a pixel depth of 16, 24, or 32
bits per pixel. This format is more powerful and flexible than the
TIFF format, but isn’t used as often. In Windows, this format uses
the .tgaextension.82 ABSOLUTE BEGINNER’S GUIDE TODIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY