Ever wonder—why certain images, photographs, and logos–don’t appear right on a Website? It has to do with a five letter word: FORMAT. Not every format works for every Website design. For example, one would not watch the St. Louis Blues, NHL hockey team in a cinematic format on a high-definition television screen. It would lop off the player’s heads, making them appear deformed, hindering puck visibility.

Regardless of who designs the company Website, images should be in the appropriate format and of the best quality. There’s nothing worse than a poorly shot photo which ultimately diminishes the quality of the website design; thus, the company persona.

Consider an actor’s headshot. Although the Brad Pitt look-alike with the most credits, would be the likely choice; but, if the photo is rendered in poor quality, it merely negates the expertise and professionalism that the resume touts.

Even if you’re using the content management system that does it all, images must be uploaded in the appropriate format.

Image, Photograph, Logo – Format Guide

BMP -Although images saved in a bitmap format is nothing but a series of dots (pixels). .GIF and  JPEG are the preferred formats.

.GIF — is the acronym for ‘Graphical Interface Format,” the best format for presenting computer-generated artwork, such as graphics or the company logo.

.JPEG also abbreviated using .jpg is the acronym for ‘Joint Photographic Experts Group’. In the realm of website design, this format is perfect for posting photos on the Internet or Web site. The JPEG format should not be used to depict logos or graphical images.

PSD stands for the Photoshop file extension. Before Photoshop images are uploaded to a Web site, be sure to convert to either a .GIF (logo / graphic) or .JPEG (photograph).

Since EPS formats are for print design and TIFF renders images in the highest resolution, both formats are not conducive for the Web.

Want to learn more? Then click on website design to read our tips, tactics and case studies.