I'm quite often asked why I use a gif for one thing and a jpeg for another, so I thought I would document it all here to share with everyone.  It is important to get these right when using the content management to add pictures.  There are valid reasons for using different file types and its not just to do with the program you're using.  There are far too many to list in full, so here are a few of the most common ones:

Gif  The gif  (Graphical Interchange Format) file is often used in web design as it offers a good quality image at a small file size.  It can contain up to 256 'indexed' colours.  The colours are called 'indexed' because they are chosen when saving the file.  High detail images are probably better with a Jpg.  GIF images can also be animated and saved as "animated GIFs," which are often used to display basic animations on websites; they may also include transparent pixels, which allow them to blend with different color backgrounds; however, pixels in a GIF image must be either fully transparent or fully opaque.
 
Jpg or Jpeg  The Jpg (Joint Photographic Experts Group) are commonly used for storing digital photos since the format supports up to 24-bit color; also a common format for publishing Web graphics.  Jpg are not good at being compressed - they will dramatically loose quality.
 
Png  The Png (Portable Network Graphic) is a common web file.  It is often used because the image loads in quality, rather than in stages.  This means that the image will appear from the offset on the web page will gradually load.  As such, the Png is often used for higher quality images.
 
Bmp  The Bmp (Bitmap Image) is an uncompressed image file.  This file type looses quality dramatically if resized.  They are not the smallest of images either - best stick with a Jpg!
 
That will do for now!   If you have and questions, feel free to ask...
 
Anna

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