Which image file occupies least memory space in a PC?

Question

I want to scan (or) photograph a image on a paper using sanner (or) Digital camera, When saving the image to system it should occupy least memory space.Which format (JPEG,BMP,......) occupies less space?

I would be better if a list is provided in ascending order of memery space.

Answer 1

Largest to smallest;
TIFF (Tagged Image File Format)
BMP (Bitmap) 24-bit
BMP (Bitmap) 8-bit
GIF (Graphic Image File format) 8-bit
JPEG
PNG (Portable Network Graphic)

TIFF is usually 24 or 32 bit. This means it can store anything from 16 million colours to 4 billion colours. These files store an exact copy of the information but result in very large files.

24-bit BMP files are identical to TIFF files. They store up to 16 million colours. Once again they are an exact copy and very large.

8-bit BMP files are also exact copies but only have 256 colours. This is not suitable for photographs but may be suitable for logos which have large areas of colour and no shades.

GIF files are also limited to 256 colours. Compression is used to reduce the file size to smaller than 8-bit BMP. Once again, suitable for logos with no shades.

JPG images store images with up to 16 million colours and use what is called lossy compression. They dramatically reduce the size of the image by a combination of compression and by discarding information that the eye cannot discern. JPG should only be used on photographs and similar types of images, not when scanning logos, as large areas of solid colour often produce what are known as 'artifacts'. These are patterns that are introduced onto the image by the compression technique used. This is usually not noticed on photographs as there is usually a lot of variation that hides the artifacts.

PNG images are reasonably new and are mainly used on the web. They can produce better quality images than JPG but very little software supports them and results can be mixed if you use them on web pages.


I hope that this has helped. In summary;

Photographs - JPG
Logos with solid colour and no shading - 8-bit BMP or GIF
Logos with shades or many colours - 24-bit BMP

Finally you should be aware of what you are using the image for. If you are putting the image on a website it should be no more than 800x600 pixels in size. If you wish to print the images off then they will need to be at least 2000x1500 pixels in size for a 6'x4' or 7'x5' image (300 dpi or higher).


I hope this helps.

Answer 2

jpeg is smaller. The larger ones are bitmap (bmp) and TIFF (tagged image file format). TIFF files give the best quality, so if you want, you can save it first as TIFF, then as jpeg.

Answer 3

I think it is JPEG occupies the least space.
TIFF occupies the largest space.

Answer 4

JPEG. Thats the size you want to go for. It's small.

Answer 5

i use jpeg under save as option i think its the smallest

(<~_~>)

Answer 6

Was going to ask this too