Glossary
Definition of commonly used terms related to digital photography.
Digitize
To convert analog information into digital format for use by a computer.
DPI
Dots Per Inch. Number of dots a printer or device (like a monitor) can display per linear inch.
JPEG
JPEG, which stands for Joint Photographic Experts Group, the group that established this file standard, is one of the most widely, used file formats today. JPEG is a compressed file that loses some visual quality that cannot be restored (a.k.a. lossy compression).
PPI
Pixels Per Inch or pixel density. The number of pixels per linear inch is used to describe image resolution. A higher PPI means more image detail and correlates to higher image quality.
Pixel
A pixel (picture element) is the smallest piece of information in an image. One small dot of light among the many dots that make up an image on a computer screen.
RAW
Camera RAW formats contain unprocessed data from a digital camera’s sensor. A RAW converter makes precise adjustments before converting to an RGB file format such as TIFF or JPEG for storage, printing, or further manipulation. RAW files do not share a common filename extension, .RAW. These image formats differ according to camera make/model.
Resolution
The number of pixels in an image. A higher number correlates to a higher quality image.
TIF
Tagged Image File Format (abbreviated TIFF) is a file format that uses lossless compression (i.e. none) that may be edited and re-saved without losing image quality. This is a common format for storing images and for file delivery.