STANDARD FORMATS FOR BITMAP GRAPHICS

FORMAT      DESCRIPTION

BMP             (Bitmap) A graphics format native to microsoft windows, BMP is widely used
                      on PCs for icons and wallpaper. Some Macintosh programs also can read BMP
                      files. The BMP file format supports up to 24-depth color, or over 16 million
                      different colors.

PICT             (PICTure) This is the native format defined by apple for use on macintosh
                      computers. It is widely used on macs but is not usually used on PCs.

TIFF             (Tagged Image File Format) Tiff is a bitmap format defined in 1986 by
                      microsoft and aldus (now part of adobe) and widely used on both Macs and
                      PCs. This format is usually the best to use when exchanging bitmap files
                      that will be printed or edited further.
JPEG             (Joint Photographic Experts Group) JPEG is often abbreviated as JPG
                      (pronounced JAY-peg). This bitmap format is common on the World Wide Web
                       and is often used for photos and other high resolution images that wil
                       be viewed on screen.

GIF               (GIF Interchange Format) Like JPEG images, GIf images are often found on
                       on World Wide Web pages. Unlike JPEG images can contain only 256 or fewer
                       unique colors.
EMF              (Windows Enhanced Metafile) This format was originally developed for the
                       Microsoft office suite of applications. It uses the windows buit-in graphics
                       device interface, or GDI, to create images that can be scaled to display at
                       the highest-possible resolution on any device selected screen or printer.
                       This technology creates something of a hybrid between the vector graphics
                       and bitmap types, since EMF bitmaps can be resized without any loss of quality.