Inline graphics are image files (or picture files) referred to within the text of a Web page and are identified by their extensions.
Your browser can display them without using an external or helper application. The most common types of inline graphics (or picture files) are the
GIF format and the JPEG format.
GIF
Graphic Interchange Format (GIF) is a standard bitmapped graphics file format for online graphics. GIFs support interlacing, which means the images gradually get sharper.
It supports 8-bit color (256 colors) and is widely used because the files are lossless, or no information is lost when the files are compressed.
For example, a blue sky shows up mostly blue. It stays true to the real color. There are two types of GIFs transparent and animated.
The transparent GIF takes on the background color of the browser and lets the browser show various shapes.
The animated GIF simulates movement by sequencing GIFs. Animated GIFs are easiest to make and best supported across platforms and browsers.
ransparent
JPEG
Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) is a standard bitmapped file format for compressing photographs for the Web.
It uses lossy compression, meaning you lose some information from the original image. Progressive JPEGs supports interlacing.
At 24-bit color (16 million colors), JPEG images occupy more disk space than GIFs.
PNG
Portable Network Graphics (PNG) is a bitmapped graphics file format that supports up to 48-bit color (281 trillion colors) and is designed to cross platforms smoothly.
It carries information within each image about the originating environment.
These other file formats require a plug-in:
BMP (Windows Bitmap)
EPS (Encapsulated PostScript)
TIFF (Tagged Image File Format)
In the next lesson, you will learn about common file formats used for audio in a Web site.