PhotoshopElements

File formats for saving

Photoshop Elements can save images in the following file formats:

BMP
A standard Windows image format. You can specify either Windows or OS/2 ®format and a bit depth for the image. For 4‑bit and 8‑bit images using Windows format, you can also specify RLE compression.

CompuServe GIF (Graphics Interchange Format)
Multiple layer documents can be saved as animated GIFs, using the Save For Web command. Commonly used to display graphics and small animations in web pages, GIF is a compressed format designed to minimize file size and transfer time. GIF supports only 8‑bit color images (256 or fewer colors). You can also save an image as a GIF file using the Save For Web command.

JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group)
Used to save photographs, JPEG format retains all color information in an image but compresses file size by selectively discarding data. You can choose the level of compression. Higher compression results in lower image quality and a smaller file size; lower compression results in better image quality and a larger file size. JPEG is a standard format for displaying images over the web.

JPEG 2000
Produces images with better compression, quality, color management, and metadata capability than JPEG. JPEG 2000 also supports transparency in layered images and retains any saved selections. Photoshop Elements saves images in extended JPEG 2000 (JPF) format, which is a more comprehensive file format than standard JPEG 2000 (JP2). You can make files JP2 compatible by selecting an option in the JPEG 2000 dialog box.

PCX
A bitmap format widely supported on a variety of platforms.

Photoshop (PSD)
The standard Photoshop Elements format for images. You should generally use this format for edited images to save your work and preserve all your image data and layers in a single page file.

Photo Project Format (PSE)
The standard Photoshop Elements format for multiple page creations. You should generally use this format for photo creations to save your work and preserve all your image data and layers in a multiple page file.

Photoshop PDF (Portable Document Format)
A cross-platform and cross-application file format. PDF files accurately display and preserve fonts, page layouts, and both vector and bitmap graphics.
Note: PDF and PDP are the same except that PDPs are opened in Adobe Photoshop® and PDFs are opened in Acrobat.

Photoshop EPS (Encapsulated PostScript)
Used to share Photoshop files with many illustration and page-layout programs. For best results, print documents with EPS images to PostScript-enabled printers.

PICT
Used with Mac OS® graphics and page-layout applications to transfer images between applications. PICT is especially effective at compressing images with large areas of solid color.

When saving an RGB image in PICT format, you can choose either 16‑bit or 32‑bit pixel resolution. For a grayscale image, you can choose from 2, 4, or 8 bits per pixel.

Pixar
Used for exchanging files with Pixar image computers. Pixar workstations are designed for high-end graphics applications, such as those used for three-dimensional images and animation. Pixar format supports RGB and grayscale images.

PNG (Portable Network Graphics)
Used for lossless compression and for displaying images on the web. Unlike GIF, PNG supports 24‑bit images and produces background transparency without jagged edges; however, some web browsers do not support PNG images. PNG preserves transparency in grayscale and RGB images.

Photoshop Raw
Used for transferring images between applications and computer platforms when other formats don’t work.

Scitex CT
Used in the prepress industry.

TGA (Targa)
Designed for systems using the Truevision video board. When saving an RGB image in this format, you can choose a pixel depth of 16, 24, or 32 bits per pixel and RLE compression.

TIFF (Tagged-Image File Format)
Used to exchange files between applications and computer platforms. TIFF is a flexible bitmap image format supported by most paint, image-editing, and page-layout applications. Most desktop scanners can produce TIFF files.

In addition, Photoshop Elements can open files in several other older formats: PS 2.0, Pixel Paint, Alias Pix, IFF format, Portable Bit Map, SGI ®RGB, Soft Image, Wavefront RLA, and ElectricImage.