Stands for Joint Photographic Experts Group. Along with GIF, the JPEG file format is one of the main graphic formats displayed on the Web. JPEGs use a lossy compression, which means that every time you save an image, some of the original image data will be lost, degrading the quality of the image. JPEGs store images in 24-bit color (GIFs only use 8 bits or less) allowing you to save millions of colors. Consequently, JPEGs are better suited than GIFs for photographs and images with fine gradations of color.
Logo saved as a GIF
Logo saved as a JPEG
Photo saved as a GIF
Photo saved as a JPEG
FotoFinish offers you three compression levels when saving an image as a JPEG file. These settings are: fine, normal, and compact. A Fine setting will compress the least and save the most image information while a Compact setting will create a small file size but will lose more image data. Compact compression may also create JPEG artifacts, which are minor distortions in the image. You can choose the compression setting on the Save as dialog.
Note: Saving a JPEG repeatedly during a single editing session will not degrade image quality because during the session the image remains loaded uncompressed in memory. You will also not lose any quality if you open and save your image without making any changes. The JPEG file will only lose quality if it's been opened, edited, saved, and then closed.
Changing the quality setting of a JPEG file that was initially saved using the Compact setting to a Fine setting will not restore it to the original image quality. Once image information is lost it cannot be recovered.