GIF,JPG,BITMAP?

[Shoko]

What all these mean?which ones 2 use?I know there for pics etc,just started to mess around with MS Paint,so like some advice on these plzs http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/smile.gif

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Shoko Emperor
Die by the Sword
http://hatamotokill.homestead.com/files/Skeleton3.gif

[Vanya]

Quote Originally posted by Shoko:
What all these mean?which ones 2 use?I know there for pics etc,just started to mess around with MS Paint,so like some advice on these plzs http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/smile.gif

[/QUOTE]

Bitmaps offer NO compression, JPEGs are compressed formats that are lossy in nature (ie, you sacrifice some image quality for the compression) and GIFs are in the middle. So, if you want sheer small size, go with JPEGs. But, if you want to use transparent areas, you should use GIFs as JPEGs don't handle that (that I know of).

[NoFearWonton]

GIFs and JPEGs are the only ones found on the internet. GIFs i believe only consist of 256 colors as well, and therefore offer less detail. i wish i could find this one piece of software i had on my other computer again... it was a quick, free download (and i have 56k) and it could change image types quickly and efficiently...

[Shoko]

So which should i really use?Im going to use it for making pics for my own use! http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/smile.gif
eg.Want 2 make pic of battle formations etc!
thxs for advice so far http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/biggrin.gifLearning fast with all ur help http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/wink.gif
Also 1 more i have MS Paint,which other program would u recommend me 2 buy?

[Kurando]

You can use programs like imagoweb (http://fabrizio.jth.it/download/iwsetup.EXE) to convert the image to whatever format you want after you are done editing it.

I usually use .bmp for editing, but .bmp files are much larger than .jpg, or .gif files so I usually convert them to one those formats when I am finished editing.

[Shoko]

Cheers K-man, i can use all of the above on my computer already just a matter of choice,thxs again though! http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/smile.gif

[Kraellin]

shoko,

you can use paint shop pro, which i sent to tosa to put up on the .org. it's much better than mspaint and also does the file conversions you're going to want. it's in the mods/maps/files section on the .org. it might be labeled psp 4.12 or something like that. it's a shareware program. i've used it for years and now have the registered version of it. you can also get later versions of it off the web but a lot of them have trial time limits.

also, if you just want change one file type to another you can get a file conversion program. there are many of these on the web also. no paint program with most of those. just converts one image type to another.

try zdnet.com for lots of free/shareware type stuff. they have a rather large archive of this sort of thing. you can also try tucows.com, another good archive of useful shareware/demos/freeware/trial versions.

it is prolly best to 'paint' in a non-compressed file format like .bmp and then if you need to compress it later for file sending or web page posting, convert it to something with a smaller 'footprint', like .jpg (jpeg) or .gif.

.bmp simply stands for 'bitmap', which is a way of making, displaying and storing images in binary code. it uses a number of 'bit planes' which are similar to 'cell's if yer familiar with analog animation techniques. if yer not, then i've prolly just confused the hell out of you and you can ignore the technical jargon for now.

.gif's came later when computer networks that existed before the internet, needed a smaller file size. .gif was developed by compuserve for use on their network when upload and download speeds were much slower and file storage was more limited.

.jpg's were developed for the same reason and are indeed a much smaller file type like vanya says and do sacrifice quality for size.

so, if you draw your original files in .jpg, when you convert them to a higher quality format, data has to be added into the image by the file converion utility and will not look as good as if you'd drawn it originally in a .bmp format. by drawing in a .bmp format and converting to a .jpg, data has to be removed from the image by the file conversion to make it the smaller size.

so, generally speaking, it is better to draw in .bmp and convert later if needed.

ms paint is a very simplistic paint program and if yer going to do any amount of this type of work, i seriously recommend you get something better. it's fine for learning some of the basics, but once you get almost anything else, you'll never go back to ms paint.

K.


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I'm sorry, but i never apologize.

[Shoko]

Cheers think i understand now! http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/biggrin.gifDraw and save in Bmp then when want 2 send 2 somebody convert into J-peg.
These will be for me personnel use anyway,so i just stick with Bmp then?Have i got it right? http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/smile.gif

[Kraellin]

shoko,

the best way to see if you 'got it right' is to simply go ahead and do some drawings and then convert a few and see the differences. then you can determine 'right' for yourself :)

K.


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I'm sorry, but i never apologize.

[Shoko]

Yep good idea,(simple)will take a look http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/wink.gifThxs alot! http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/biggrin.gif

[Kraellin]

welcome :)

K.


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I'm sorry, but i never apologize.