By Jeanene Fisher

You have probably noticed that Adobe Photoshop files can be saved in different formats or types of files.

Having a working knowledge and understanding of the different file formats is essential if you want to make the most of your photo projects.

Many different types of image files exist; here are the most common ones used in Photoshop.

PSD: This is the most important file format for digital photo editing. A PSD file is a Photoshop file format. There are two main reasons for using PSD when working on your digital photos. To begin with, PSD files allow you to work in layers and channels. This saves your work without compressing the layers. This does result in a large file size. Secondly, PSD files do not lose their image quality as you work on them. Since there is no compression when the file is saved, there is no lost data. Save your work as a PSD file until you are finished editing your image. Then you can save it in a more appropriate file for each particular project.

JPEG stands for Joint Photographic Experts Group. JPEG is the most well-known for the digital file formats. Files saved in JPEG are smaller because they are compressed. The problem with JPEG, as well as any compression file, is that some data will be lost every time you edit the file and then save it again. However, JPEG files work great on the Web and come with a variety of applications.

GIF, or Graphic Interchange Format, is a very popular format used for Web and Internet applications. GIF files are usually small in size, allowing them to load more quickly in Internet browsers. These GIF files are actually limited to a maximum of 256 colors.

Other file formats are available on Photoshop; however, they are not good for Internet use so as not used very much.

For your use, it will be best to save your projects in a PSD file until you are finished editing them. Then, save them in a JPEG or GIF file to save space.

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