What bitmap format is the most appropriate for your Web Pages? Well, that depends on your image. A general rule of thumb is that the JPEG format works best for photographic images containing many colours. The GIF format works best for images with large blocks of flat colour, such as drawings/illustrations/maps etc. (images with relatively few colours).

There is actually a third image format in the Web designers’ arsenal, PNG which combines some of the advantages of JPG and GIF formats. However, this being a relatively new format, older browsers do not support PNG.

The following examples have been saved, in the most appropriate settings (this of course is entirely subjective). So what you’re looking at here is the best of the best, JPG vs. GIF in a no holds barred battle of the fittest, may the best pic win.

Can you tell the difference?. The truth of the matter is that when viewed at 100% the two images are almost indistinguishable from one in other. However in this particular situation, JPEG is the better choice because of its smaller footprint.

GIF is the only choice if you must have a transparent background (although there is a way to simulate transparencies with JPG). The GIF is slightly clearer and the colour just a tad more vibrant to my eye. Admittedly, I would be hard pressed to tell one from the other. Once again, we have to look at the file size to determine the better format. The GIF file wins in this instance.