Another question for computer experts...

[BlueCollar]

Ok...I just clicked on the image under "Cartoon for Matcom" thread...wanted to save it.

I noticed it is saved as a "bitmap" vs. a "jpeg".

A couple of questions...

1) What's the difference?

2) Why doesn't my computer save it as a jpeg?

[aquart]

1. Bitmap is as is. JPEG you can scale and play with.

That's the difference I've noticed.

[quispquake]

2. Answers

1) They are different picture formats...JPEG's are 'compressed' so that the picture is small in file size, while BMP's are 'uncompressed' so are generally large files.

2) Your computer will save the file in the original format.

Have a nice day :)

[stewert]

3. Bitmap..........

A bitmap is just a different format, most people don't know it but there are
about 20 different formats for images. The internet normally uses .jpg for
photos and .gif for graphics.

When you save or make a photo or an image you can select the format, why
he saved it as a bitmap is anyones guess. I guess you will have to ask him, I
always save all my images as a .jpg or a .gif.

If you have a graphics program like paint shop pro you can right mouse click on
it, save image as, and then re-open it with paint shop pro and re-save it as a .jpg
or a .gif.

[BlueCollar]

5. is it possible then

to set my pc up to save all images as jpg's through a default setting?

[LTR]

4. You can open it up in MS Paint

And save it as a jpeg.

Or, just go back to it and save the pic again as a jpeg.

On edit: I looked at it, and it is a gif. You can still save it as a jpeg, if you want, but gif in this case may look clearer. BMP will also look clearer, but be a much bigger file.

[Devils Advocate NZ]

6. The correct answer is...

The original picture format is GIF (right click the image and select properties). There are many file formats used for images, including GIF, JPEG and BMP (or bitmap).

The Bitmap format is an uncompressed array of "bits" (hence bitmap) and thus evey pixel in the image results in one or more bytes in the file.

GIF and JPEG however are compressed formats, where groups of pixels can be represented by fewer bytes in the file, resulting in a smaller file size.

The GIF format can represent a maximum of 256 colours (not true colour) and is best used for line drawings such as cartoons. The JPEG format is a true colour (millions of colours) format and thus is best used for photographs.

Now, as to why your computer is trying to save it as a bitmap, I can suggest one possibility - Internet Explorer has this little quirk that if the image is not cached on your hard drive (ie copied to your Temporary Internet Files folder) then IE will only save it as a BITMAP file.

However, if the file HAS been cached on your hard drive, when you save it a copy of the file is made in its original format.

I believe this is a copyright thing that MS has included on the sly in IE. A webserver can mark an image as non-cacheable, in which case no copy is made on your hard drive, and you can only save it as a Bitmap. If you try to save it again as a JPEG you will lose some of the quality because JPEG is a "lossy" format (some of the information is lost during compression. GIF files will not have this limitation because GIF is not "lossy".

I've had a look at the file and it seems to me it SHOULD have been copied to your drive, so you SHOULD be able to save it in its original format, depending on your computer's settings.

However, if you are not using IE, I am not sure why this has happened to you. I would suggest trying to reload the image from the server (in IE hold the control key when you click on the refresh button). That may solve the problem.