What are JPEGs?
JPEGs refer to digital images or files which are said to be “lossy”. “Lossy” refers to files that loose some “quality” due to compression. These digital image files are named after the original group that made this file or image compression standard. The group’s name is “Joint Photographic Experts Group”.

Due to its effective compression, JPEG is the most popular image file format used on digital cameras and on various websites. Using JPEGs would mean smaller file sizes, which make it easy for users to copy and transfer files from one location to another. On the internet, webpages will load more easily because of “lighter” JPEG image files. In terms of file transfers, JPEG image files can be transmitted faster and can be uploaded and/or downloaded faster because of relatively smaller file sizes than its counterparts like PNG, BMP or GIF files.

JPEGs are the file format of choice for most photographs and paintings. The compression involved in JPEG works best on these types of images wherein there is a wide variety of tone and color. Though there will be some loss in image quality through JPEG compression, much of the details of a particular image can still be preserved. Images that contain lines and text do not compress well using JPEG. These types of images may look more distorted if saved in JPEG format. Other image formats are used for linear or textual image files.

Depending on individual preferences and needs, files may be saved using the JPEG format or other formats like PNG or portable network graphic file. Others may also the basic GIF files if the image requires not much detail and color. But since most people would like to have smaller file sizes for easy transfer, upload, or download, JPEG file formats are very popular and widely used today.