File Formats & Extensions
TXT
A file format for files consisting of text usually containing very little formatting (e.g., no bolding or italics). Files can easily be read or opened by any program that reads text.
GIF
A graphic format commonly found online with support for 256 colors and transparency. Can display simple animations when viewed. Short for Graphic Interchange Format.
PNG
A graphic format that supports animation, layers, transparency, multiple color depths and is commonly used to preview images online. Short for Portable Network Graphic.
MP3
A highly compressed audio file format. Used by most portable music players. Short for MPEG Audio Stream, Layer III. Same as MPG3 on Macintosh.
TIFF
A lossless graphic format most commonly used to store faxes, scans, and other images for high resolution editing and printing. Short for Tagged Image File Format. Same as TIF.
SWF
A multimedia file format associated with Flash. Short for Shockwave Flash, the initial name for Flash. Same as SWFL on Macintosh.
WMV
A proprietary video file format developed by Microsoft. Short for Windows Media Video.
WAV
A raw and uncompressed audio file format that produces a high-quality sound. Developed jointly by IBM and Microsoft as the native format for Windows sound files. Commonly used as the source format during the editing process. Short for Waveform. Same as WAVE on Macintosh.
MOV
A video file format associated with Apple Quicktime. Popular for downloading video files. Short for Movie. Same as MooV on Macintosh.
AVI
A video file format associated with Microsoft Windows. Popular for downloading video files. Short for Audio-Video Interleave. Same as VfW on Macintosh.
FLV
A video file format developed by Macromedia (which is now part of Adobe) for their Flash application. Popular for streaming video. Short for Flash Video.
HTML
Hypertext Markup Language, a standardized system for tagging text files to achieve font, color, graphic, and hyperlink effects on World Wide Web pages
JPEG
A compressed graphic format commonly found online and designed for storing high-quality photographs with millions of colors. Does not support animation or transparency. Short for Joint Photographic Experts Group. Same as JPG and JPE.
RTF
A document language used for exchanging text between different word processors and text-processing applications. It is much easier to generate than PDF or PostScript, and is more word-processor friendly than HTML.
WMA
A compressed audio file format that produces a high-quality sound. Developed by Microsoft to compete with the MP3 format. Short for Windows Media Audio.
MIDI
An industry-standard audio file format created to store musical instrumentation. Short for Musical Instrument Digital Interface. Same as MID.
BMP
An uncompressed graphic format with support for 256 colors but without support for animation or transparency. Short for Bitmap.
PPT
Associated with a presentation program called Powerpoint developed by Microsoft that is used for producing slide shows that can incorporate text, graphics, video, animations, and more
PSD
Native format for files created in Adobe's Photoshop program.
DOC
Primarily associated with 'Word' by Microsoft Corporation. Office Word is an authoring program that gives you the ability to create and share documents using a set of writing tools.
LOSSLESS
Reduces the file size without losing any pixel data.
LOSSY
Some data is lost during compression.
MPEG
The industry-standard video file format that is complementary to the JPEG image format. Has wide-spread support and is popular for downloading video files. Short for Moving Pictures Expert Group. Same as MPG.
WMF
The native vector-based graphic format for Microsoft Office Clip Art. Short for Windows Meta File.
This file type captures formatting information from a variety of desktop publishing applications, making it possible to send formatted documents and have them appear on the recipient's monitor or printer as they were intended. Can be read with Adobe Acrobat Reader or Preview