JPG vs GIF vs PNG

In this blog I'm going to explain the difference between these three different kind of image formats, explain how they are, and which is the best for desktop publishing.

JPG (Joint Photographic Experts Group)

JPG is an image format used on the web with and extreme power of resolution, over 16 million colors, and they're enormous files in which information which the human eye can't detect is compressed. So large is the file, that you either have to compromise the quality of the image or have a large file. It is not used for letters, line drawings or simple graphics due to its quality which then is loses quality and sharpness. JPG is not reccommended for desktop publishing because the file of the images is too large.

       

                An example of a JPEG image

                                                                    
GIF (Graphics Interchange Format)

GIF is another image format on the web with not a lot of resolution, only supports 256 colors, and it is perfect for line drawing, black and white images, and small text that is only a few pixels high. It supports animation, and all the animated images, or almost all, are in GIF format. GIF would be good for desktop publishing, but maybe it could have a bit more quality.

  An example of an animation in GIF

PNG (Portable Network Graphics)

 PNG is another web based image format, and it is really and improvement of GIF. It lets you compress the file to 5%-25% and it also allows you the control of opacity (the degree of transparency). It doesn't matter how much you save it or re-save it, the quality will stay the same. It doesn't allow animations.

An example of an image in PNG

What is the difference between JPEG, GIF, PNG?


There is a main difference between these formats, they're all very different. JPEG has the most quality of image, but the files are normally very big. GIF has less quality, the files are smaller, and it can support animation on the images. PNG has he same quality as GIF, but it allows you to compress it more witout damaging the quality, and it also allows you to control the opacity.


What do all these formats have in common?


All of these three formats have in common that they are all used in the net.


Which is the most widely used one?


The most widely used format in the Internet is the GIF format because it is used for icons and all the other things mentioned, and so it is the most used on the web.


Which is the best format for...?

Photographs: For photographs, JPEG is undoubtely the best because of the great resolution which will allow the image too seem as if it were real, and with good quality to the last detail.
Drawings: For drawings, the best format is GIF because you certainly don't need a lot of quality, and it will allow you to have a small file with a reasonable quality. 
Animations: For animations, the best format is obvoiusly GIF. Most of the animations on the net are GIF, and it is basically the only format of the three allowing animation, therefore this is the format for animation.
Non degraded quality: The format for non degraded quality is PNG. PNG allows you to save and re-save as much as you want, compress it a lot, and the quality of the image will stay the same, where in the other formats it wouldn't. Definitely the best for non degraded quality.

The difference of quality and file size between the three formats

Print Screen

Many times we've wanted to get the exact image which is shown on screen, but we may not know how to, and we may even take our digital camera and take a photo of it However this is way too complicated and there is a way far simpler to do it, and that's what I'm going to teach you in this blog.

If you take a look at your keyboard, you may find letters numbers and on the right hand side on the top of the keyboard you can find various buttons with letters incribed on them. Maybe yu've taken a look at it or maybe you've never noticed, but those buttons are there for something, especially the one I'm going to talk in this blog, the Print Screen Button.

Once you cclick this button, nothing will occur, not a flash, not a sound, nothing, but something actually happens. The image is saved in the computer, and once you click Control+v the image is put in the program. Some programs you can use include: Paint, Open Office Draw, Photoshop, Fireworks, Freehand or others which are more powerful.

However, this technique only applies to a windows computer. Ifyou're using a Mac computer, you should do the following:

Look at your keyboard, if you press the buttons Command+Shift+3 the image will be saved as a screenshot by default, and in this case the computer will make a sound, the sound of a normal camera taking a photograph. You then need to see the desktop and the image will be saved there as a screenshot. You can also use Command+Shift+4 which will allow you to select the part of the screen you want.

You then go to the desktop and you will see that the screenshot is saves as Image. You cast copy it and paste it to the document you want.

That's all you need to know about how to do a screenshot.

Scribus

With this blog I'm going to show you the basics of Scribus, the desktop publishing program, by answering to basic questions and by putting a link to a website explaining Scribus.




1- What is a "page layout" program? Name 3 differences from ordinary word processors.


A "page layout" program, also know as desktop publishing programs, are programs in which you can arrange images and text in the way you want it, such as in a magazine or a newspaper. 3 differences with ordinary word processors would be that you can arrange text and images as you wish, you can create neat new fonts and you can create interactive PDF forms and presentation documents.

2- How do Web and Printed picture formats differ?


The difference is that in the Web you see the images better even though they have less resolution than the printed photos, so for example, if the Web images have 90DPI then to have a similar quality of image in printed version, you would have to print in 250DPI.

3- Why should you use a word processor before you actually work on the page layout?


Because it's easier to write on a word processor and you can check your grammar in it, so once everything is correct, you can copy and paste it in Scribus.

4- What is the difference between vector and bitmap images?


Bitmap Images are formed of dots or pixels and are taken from digital cameras, while vector images are images which don't have dots, but that have coordinates which tell you where to draw the line, therefore the drawing will be more precise and have more quality in Scribus.

5- What does PDF mean and why is it useful?


PDF means "portable document format" and it's useful, especially in Scribus, because it lets you copy and paste images, or text, in a very good quality.


And this is the basics of Scribus. Want to know more? Here's the link: 


http://docs.scribus.net/index.php?lang=en&page=about2

Desktop Publishing

Have you ever had difficulty to add images in word to make it a magazine-type document? Well then I'm going to introduce to you a new way of combining text and images with DESKTOP PUBLISHERS.


Maybe you're reading this and saying "Now what the hell is a desktop publisher?". This blog is going to talk about desktop publisher.


Let's start with the basics of a desktop publisher. What is desktop publishing? Well desktop publishing is the using of a personal computer to create high quality printed documents, such as documents we would see in most magazines. You can arrange the margins you want, mix text and images in all the ways you wish to and see how the document will appear when printed.

Some desktop publishers? Among the best desktop publishers or the best know, we'll find Adobe PageMaker, Adobe InDesign, Microsoft Publisher; Scribus  and QuarkXpress. I personally recommend Scribus since it's powerful and it's open source so you can have it for free.

Now that's is all you need to know about desktop publishers, now you can start to create magazine-type documents with ease.

History of Blogging

Most of us, mainly those of us who have an understanding of the internet, now think of a blog as a site where you can post whatever you want, ideas, funny entries, etc. and create this posts for people to read and express their opinion. However, there are many people who don't know the origins of blogging, and that's what I'm going to talk about in this entry.

Blogging started way before the internet existed, to those days when people wrote personal diaries, chronicles or other things that would amuse people. Obviously, in those days they couldn't imagine that those things that they wrote could make people create the large web of blogs we know nowadays.

In present times, the internet is full of blogs, and different sites to create them. Some sites include blogger, which is the site I'm presently using. What has made blogging so popular is the simplicity of making a blog. It's just so easy. You just need to create an account and then start to create blogs. People can express opinion without being afraid of being persecuted, as the would've been afraid earlier in time.

In conclusion, blogging started way before the internet existed, but now with the internet, blogging has become very popular due to its simplicity and because you can tell the world whatever you can want to tell them.

My summer vacations

This summer was probably the best summer in my whole life, and it wasn't particularly based on the places I went and the weather, but on the friends I had. 

The view of Chpiona's beach at sunset

My summer started one day before school ended, with a long trip to Chipiona, a small town in Cadiz. Even with 10 hours of car travel, the trip was more than worthy and I'm willing to next year as well.

As its usual in my 14 years of life, we went back to Laredo, the place where I've spent my whole life during summer. There I've done what is usual and what I most like. Be with my friends, play tennis, and a lot of other stuff which I hadn't done before, like surfing.

The view from the ferry of the Isle of Wight

After 3 weeks in Laredo, I went to Great Britain, more precisely to the Isle of Wight in the south of England. I spent there two weeks and it was absolutely amazing. I did all kinds of things that I didn't do before, such as water skiing wakeboarding and many other things. I made lots of new friends, from many parts of the world, and I'm trying to convince my parents to go next year as well.

Then, for a change, I went back to Laredo, and just spent one week there, because I then went to Paris.

Another long trip, about 9 hours without counting the amount of time spent in the stops, but again, it was worthy going. We visited almost al of Paris in just four days. I walked what I had never walked, but I won't forget what I saw. The Eiffel Tower, during the day and at night, as well as going to the top of it, the Louvre, the Champs Elysses, and a whole lot of things from which I would make an unending list.

I went back to Laredo to pass the rest of my vacations until school started, and probably had the best time of the summer there, not doing anything special, just hanging out with my friends, laughing and enjoying that we didn't have school. I, however, did something that I really enjoyed, which was called Banana Boating, which I had already done in the Isle of Wight. It is just so awesome. I really recommend anyone to try it.

However, the summer doesn't last forever, and school had to come some day, so after a lot of sadness and mainly laziness, school started.