Image jargon, translated.
Short, precise definitions of the terms behind image files - what they mean, why they matter, and which tool puts each one to work. For longer answers, the guides go deeper.
- EXIF data EXIF (Exchangeable Image File Format) data is a block of hidden information a camera or phone saves inside every photo file: when and where it was taken, the device model, camera settings, and more.
- Image metadata Image metadata is any information stored inside an image file that isn't the picture itself: EXIF camera data, GPS location, IPTC captions and copyright, XMP edit history, and color profiles.
- Lossy vs lossless compression Lossy compression shrinks an image by permanently discarding detail the eye is unlikely to notice - JPEG and standard WebP work this way.
- JPEG (JPG) JPEG is the standard lossy format for photographs, used since 1992 and readable by effectively every device, browser, and program ever made.
- PNG PNG (Portable Network Graphics) is a lossless image format: every pixel is preserved exactly, and it supports full transparency.
- WebP WebP is Google's modern web image format, supported by every current browser.
- HEIC HEIC is the format iPhones use to save photos by default, storing images at roughly half the size of an equivalent JPG with the same quality.
- Compression artifacts Compression artifacts are the visible defects lossy compression leaves behind when quality is pushed too low: blocky 8x8 patches in smooth areas, ringing halos around text and hard edges, banding in gradients, and smeared fine detail.
- Aspect ratio Aspect ratio is the proportional relationship between an image's width and height, written like 16:9 or 4:3.
- Color profile (ICC) A color profile is a small data block embedded in an image that defines exactly which real-world colors its pixel values mean.