When you take a picture, the camera saves it as a digital file that is stored in the memory card. There are all different types of file formats that includes JPEG, TIFF, RAW, DNG, PNG, GIF, BMP, and PSD.

JPEG reduces the size of a file and sometimes results in a loss of detail and quality. This format should be used when the photos are for personal use, social media, albums, small prints, when you don’t intend to enhance or edit the photo, and for sharing through an email.

TIFF is generally required for publishing your photos. These files are not usually compressed so they offer the original quality of the raw photo. But due to this they take up more room on the memory card. TIFF files are able to be extensively edited and print at the highest quality. A downfall to quality is that it does take substantially longer time to load or transfer.

RAW is the best option if you want the highest-quality flies from your camera. This file is preferred with professional photographers. When you don’t use RAW files, the camera permanently alter the photos. With RAW files the highest-quality image is captured, there is more options in post-processing, they must be edited, and take up a lot more space on the memory card.

DNG is an attempt to provide a standard RAW file for all manufacturers and cameras. This file format has the ability to use image-processing software (Photoshop, Lightroom, etc.), is safer long-term choice due to its security against the inability to open the file later, and needs extra time to convert RAW to DNG.

PNG is the improvement of the GIF format, both are ideal for the internet. This file format has lossless compression (quality stays good), the ability to maintain transparency (good for graphics), but the quality isn’t good for physical prints.

GIF allow for animation to the picture. The benefits and negatives include the small file size make GIF ideal for the internet, files can be animated, limited colors make GIF a poor choice for photos, and GIFS don’t support partial transparency (like drop shadows).

BMP files are also another lossless format. They are great for printing, have high quality, but takes a lot of storage due to the large file size.

PSD is a default save format for Photoshop. This format lets you manipulate the separate layers of a photo, can be resaves as a different file format, but they can be large files depending how many different layers are present while editing.