| | | Back in "the old days", various electronic media software (Illustrator, PShop, After Effects, Director, etc...) only had a few limited selections — maybe 2 or 3, of acceptable image formats. At one time, Illustrator didn't like PSDs, After Effects didnt like JPGs, and so forth. So the graphics monkey had to hand stuff to the art director who had to hand stuff to the video dude.. bla bla bla. And of course, the Mac/PC thing, which also limited formats for a long while (PICT vs. BMP). TIFF was the only workable solution that would talk cross-program and cross-platform. Nowadays, all of them support a dozen or more formats in import/export. TIFF is still a good, "all-around" favourite when you're sending to unknown users with unknown systems for unknown purposes. PNG is kinda cool because it's lossless, supports transparency, and can directly go on a website, "as is". GIFs and JPGs are the more commonly known web formats (with associated trade-offs). Waiting for PNG to have a future — it tends to over-saturate and over-contrast a little bit; needs a colour tweak. |
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