preferred image format for web portfolios?

flaagan

so.. what do you guys use?
I'd been using jpg's for a while, but really didn't like the quality I was seeing, even on 'max settings'. So I recently started using .png's, and the only complaint I've heard so far is a problem with the Quicktime plugin resizing images even after the browser-based image resizing is disabled.
What format / settings do you guys use for your web-based portfolio (assuming you're saving from photoshop or a render)? Obviously a good balance between quality and file size need to be maintained, but image quality for graphical work should be the higher priority.

qubism

jpg at highest is doing it really . imho

adam

.jpeg's

Asthane

What program are you using to save JPG's? I've seen some that are pretty bad at it. I use photoshop 6 and I cannot tell the difference between JPG quality 9 (What I use), JPG quality 12 (The maximum) and a straight BMP.

tubboy

Photoshop's "Save for WEB" feature works nicely. Hey Brome, You work at kinko's, surly you could answer this better than some of us.

CheapAlert

PNG!

acc

JPEG
Photoshop's Save for Web is really good. Sometimes I can put it down to 60% quality sometimes with virtually no visible loss.

killingpeople

i used high jpegs for pictures that i want the clearest and arranged them so they didn't load often (try a sharpen filter or mask - it pushes the clarity further). for thumbnails i saved as gifs using photoshop's "save to web" and adjust the settings to find a happy medium in file size and quality.

Joshua Stubbles

I use either jpg or png. Transparent stuff, I use gif (as bad as it looks). Internet Explorer doesn't support transparency in PNG, so it's a bit out of favour for that.

Slayerjerman

save it all as PCX ;P

Richard Kain

If it is web we are talking about, (and you did say this was for the web) then definitely jpeg.

PNGs take up a little more memory and browser's don't support them as well. It would be very embarrasing, portfolio-wise, to have someone using a more exotic browser fail to see your valuable images. Whenever you are dealing with web, you have to shoot for maximum compatibility as well as quality. Jpeg will give you that.

Use the Photoshop "save for web" feature as so many people have already suggested. Go to the "optimized" tab. This will allow you to preview exactly how your jpeg image will look once you save it. You can tweak the quality settings and see the changes and costs immediately. This way you can save size and get exactly the quality image you are looking for.

Scott Ruggels

Large quality JPEGs.

Scott

blankslatejoe

depends on the image, really.... with b and w line art usually gif is a smaller compression with a higher fidelity. most limited pallete webpage elements benefit from this too...otherwise, jpg all the way. pngs are the forgotten wave of the 1996 future.