File Format Reference

This chapter provides information about the image formats that ImageGear supports. Before you begin, please refer to the Encoding vs. Compressing section below to familiarize yourself with the terms used in this Chapter.

Then you can read the Format Suitability at a Glance section, which briefly delineates which formats best support various types of images. This section provides you with a starting point for deciding which file formats to use in your application.

The section ImageGear Support for Graphics File Formats describes the types of imaging file formats supported by ImageGear and provides useful information about support for some specific formats:

ImageGear Supported Bit Depths section describes the bit depths, and the read/write capabilities of the supported formats. Using this table you can easily find out whether an image can be converted to a particular format.

Detailed information about every ImageGear supported imaging file format or compression can be found in the following sections:

ImageGear Supported Compressions Reference - provides information for every ImageGear supported imaging compression.
ImageGear Supported File Formats Reference - provides detailed information about every ImageGear supported format, its ID, versions, encoding type, multi-page and alpha channel support, supported compressions, color spaces and bit depths for read and write, as well as information about ImageGear supported features and filter control parameters.

The section ImageGear Supported Digital Camera RAW Formats provides information about the level of ImageGear support for DC RAW formats.

If you are going to use the ImageGear alpha channels or transparency support, please review the section ImageGear Alpha Channel Support or ImageGear Transparency Support.

Encoding vs. Compressing

These two words are often used interchangeably in discussions of graphics file formats. Encoding is actually a broad term under which compression falls. For the sake of clarity, use these terms separately with the following intended meanings:

Encoding - The manner that data is stored when uncompressed (binary, ASCII, etc.), how it is packed (e.g., 4-bit pixels may be packed at a rate of two pixels per byte), and the unique set of symbols used to represent the range of data items.
Compressing - A "physical" rewriting of the graphics data so that it is represented by a smaller set of data.