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BMP is an image file format created by Microsoft. Also called µbitmap¶ or DIB
(device independent bitmap) file format, it is used to store bitmap digital images
mainly in the Microsoft Windows environment. The other platforms that support
the BMP file format are OS/2 and MS-DOS.
BMP was designed to contain bitmaps of different color resolutions so they could
easily be exchanged between different internal devices. Hence the name device
independent bitmaps, or DIB. As opposed to a device-dependent bitmap, the
DIB/BMP is an external bitmap where it is transported in metafiles.
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JPEG, which stands for Joint Photographic Experts Group (the name of the
group that created the standard), is a commonly used lossy technique of
compression for color photographic images. An image in JPEG format has a µ.
jpg¶, µ.jpeg¶, or µ.jpe¶, extension. The technique used in the compression of
photographic images in JPEG involves splitting the original image into minute
pixel blocks, which are halved again and again to achieve the desired amount of
compression. Images may be compressed by 90% compared to uncompressed
.bmp or. Tiff bitmap. JPEG can achieve this as it ignores information in the
image, which is not important to the appearance of the image.

GIF, which stands for Graphics Interchange Format, is widely used for
transmission of images across data networks. Introduced by CompuServe
Information Service in 1987, it is supported by all web browsers making it a very
popular format.

PSD is a proprietary file format used to create and edit images in Adobe
Photoshop. It is a widely accepted format as it supports all available image types
± Bitmap, RGB, Duotone, Grayscale, Indexed Color, CMYK, Lab, and
Multichannel.

TIFF (Tagged Image File Format) is a container format for storing pixel image
data. Originally developed by Aldus and Microsoft Corp in the 1980s, it is now
owned by Adobe Systems (after the merger of Aldus with Adobe). A TIFF file can
be identified as a file with a µ.tiff¶ or a µ.tif¶ suffix.
RAW image files are what may be called ³digital negatives´. They are raw
unprocessed data from the image sensor of a digital camera or image scanner,
that serve the same purpose as a film negative in chemical.

MRW is the file extension for the Minolta RAW image file format. Raw image files
are much like film negatives of traditional chemical photography. They contain all
the data required in order for an image to be processed. Each digital camera
uses its own proprietary raw format. MRW is the proprietary raw image file format
used by Konica Minolta digital cameras (Canon uses CRW format, Nikon uses
NEF format, Olympus uses ORF format). In 2006, Sony took over Minolta from
Konica, so now the MRW format is restricted to the older Konica Minolta, as
Sony Minolta uses its own proprietary raw file format.

PCD is the filename extension of Photo CD, Kodak's proprietary file format for
storing images on photo CDs. Designed and launched by Kodak in 1992, the
main objective of the PCD file is to digitalize, using a special compression
encoding scheme, at least 100 images for storage and retrieval.