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Choosing the Right Image Format: SVG, PDF, JPG, PNG
Episode 5 • 30th September 2024 • Business Ignite Podcast • Business Ignite Podcast
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Mastering Image Formats for Web Design Success

In this episode of the Business Ignite podcast, hosts Ethan Walker and Samantha Reed explore the world of image formats and their impact on website performance and design. They delve into the benefits and uses of various formats like SVGs, PDFs, JPGs, and PNGs, supported by insights from a 95 Visual article. Learn why SVGs are perfect for scalable graphics, how PDFs ensure consistency, the trade-offs of JPG compression, and the transparency advantages of PNGs. The hosts also touch on the emerging WebP format and emphasize choosing the right format based on specific needs. Tune in to enhance your image format knowledge and optimize your web design strategies.

00:00 Introduction to Business Ignite Podcast

00:17 Diving into Image Formats

01:20 The Magic of SVGs

02:49 The Trusty PDF

04:03 The Ubiquitous JPEG

05:19 The Underrated PNG

06:26 Emerging Formats: WebP and Beyond

07:25 Conclusion and Takeaways

Resources:

  • SVG, PDF, JPG, PNG; What's the Difference? - This article breaks down the differences between common image file formats like SVG, PDF, JPG, and PNG. Each format serves a specific purpose, with SVG being ideal for scalable graphics, PDFs for document sharing, JPGs for high-quality photos, and PNGs for images with transparency. Understanding these distinctions helps ensure you're using the right format for your design and digital needs. https://www.95visual.com/resources/articles/svg-pdf-jpg-png-whats-the-difference

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Transcripts

Speaker:

Welcome back to the business ignite podcast, where we light the fire

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for business growth and marketing success.

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Your hosts, Ethan Walker, Samantha Reed,

bring you the latest trends, expert

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insights, and actionable strategies

to fuel your business journey.

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Let's ignite your potential.

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Ethan Walker: All right.

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Let's talk images.

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Samantha Reed: Images.

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Ethan Walker: Image formats.

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Samantha Reed: Ah, getting specific.

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I like it.

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Ethan Walker: You know those

three little letters that come

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after the dot and a file name?

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Is it a jpg or a png?

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Samantha Reed: Or what even, is a webp?

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Ethan Walker: Yeah, exactly.

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So today we're diving deep.

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We're talking SVGs, PDFs.

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JPGs, we're going to hit those PNGs too.

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Samantha Reed: A veritable

who's who of image formats.

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Ethan Walker: And to help us out,

we're using this super helpful article.

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It's from 95 Visual.

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Samantha Reed: They're a

web design company, right?

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Ethan Walker: Yeah, they

really know their stuff.

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And they make this point right up front,

that picking the right image format,

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well, it's not just some, like, It can

actually make or break your website.

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Samantha Reed: Oh, absolutely.

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Impacts everything.

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User experience, SEO, even just

how professional your brand looks.

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It all ties in.

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Ethan Walker: It's true.

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Like, you could have the best

content in the world on your site.

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But if those images are blurry

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Samantha Reed: Or they

take forever to load.

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Ethan Walker: Exactly.

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People are going to hit that back

button faster than you can say pixel.

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Samantha Reed: First impressions matter.

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Ethan Walker: Okay, so

let's jump right into it.

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And I think the best place

to start is with SVGs.

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Samantha Reed: Scalable Zector Graphics.

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Ethan Walker: Now this article from

95 Visual, they really highlight

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how SVGs are all about scalability.

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Like, you can blow them up, shrink

them down, and the quality is amazing.

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Never dips.

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Samantha Reed: It's kind of

magic when you think about it.

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No pixelation whatsoever.

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So

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Ethan Walker: imagine this you're

designing a website banner Okay, and

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right in the middle is your company logo

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Samantha Reed: Important

got to have that logo.

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Ethan Walker: Of course now if

that logo is an SVG It's going to

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look razor sharp on any device.

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Samantha Reed: Doesn't matter if it's a

massive monitor or a tiny phone screen.

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Ethan Walker: Yeah.

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And that's because, and this

is cool, SVGs are vector based.

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Samantha Reed: Instead of pixels,

they're built on mathematical equations.

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It's like, imagine having a blueprint that

you can just scale all the way around.

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Up or down infinitely.

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Ethan Walker: Versus like a mosaic, right?

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With those tiny little tiles and

if you try to make it bigger.

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Samantha Reed: Gets all

blurry and pixelated.

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Ethan Walker: Exactly.

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And because SVGs are essentially code.

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Samantha Reed: They tend to

have smaller file sizes too.

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Ethan Walker: Which is huge for websites.

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Samantha Reed: Oh, gigantic.

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Faster loading times and search engines.

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They can actually read that code

so it can even help with your SEO.

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Ethan Walker: Wait, really?

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Samantha Reed: Yeah.

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It's pretty neat.

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Plus you can style them with CSS.

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So for us web developers

that's amazing flexibility.

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Yeah.

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Ethan Walker: Okay, so not only do SVGs

look fantastic on any device, but they can

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also make your website load faster, and

potentially rank higher in search results.

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Samantha Reed: They're like the

overachievers of the image format world.

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Ethan Walker: I love it.

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Okay, let's switch gears for a sec.

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Let's talk about a format I'm sure

we're all familiar with, PDFs.

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Samantha Reed: Ah, the trusty PDF.

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Ethan Walker: Right.

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They're like that reliable old friend.

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Always there for you when you need to

preserve the formatting of a document.

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Samantha Reed: If you need to be sure that

what you're sending is exactly what the

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other person sees, PDF is the way to go.

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Ethan Walker: Contracts.

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Samantha Reed: Uh.

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Ethan Walker: Research papers.

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Eve

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Samantha Reed: is like a really nicely

designed brochure where every margin,

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every font size, it all matters.

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Ethan Walker: The 95 visual

article really emphasizes this.

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PDFs.

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They ensure everyone's literally

on the same page, no matter

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what kind of computer, phone,

whatever they're using to view it.

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Samantha Reed: It's all

about that consistency.

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Ethan Walker: And it's not just about

visual consistency either, right?

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PDFs have that security aspect as well.

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Samantha Reed: Oh, for sure.

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And that can be crucial these days.

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Ethan Walker: The article touched on

that, like, you can password protect PDFs.

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Yeah.

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You can even prevent people from

copying or changing the content.

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Samantha Reed: It's like that

extra layer of protection.

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Yeah.

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Keeps your documents safe.

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Ethan Walker: Which is so important.

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Samantha Reed: Right.

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In

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Ethan Walker: a world where data privacy,

you know, it feels like it's getting

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more and more important every day.

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Oh,

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Samantha Reed: absolutely.

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Okay.

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Ready to switch gears again?

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Ethan Walker: Hit me.

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Samantha Reed: Let's talk about a

format I am certain you use every

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single day, multiple times a day.

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Even if you don't realize it.

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Ethan Walker: Okay, now

you've got me curious.

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Samantha Reed: JPEGs.

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Ethan Walker: Oh, the mighty JPG.

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Samantha Reed: Exactly.

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They are everywhere.

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Why?

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Well, the 95 Visual article, they

make a good point about this.

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It's the compression.

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Ethan Walker: Right, JPGs use that,

what is it, lossy compression?

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Samantha Reed: Lossy is right.

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Basically, it streamlines the image data.

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Like, imagine packing a suitcase, right?

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You don't bring your whole closet.

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Just the essentials.

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Ethan Walker: So it's like,

packing light for the web.

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Samantha Reed: Exactly.

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And smaller file sizes

mean faster loading times.

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Which, for websites, especially ones with

lots of images, that speed is critical.

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Ethan Walker: Makes sense.

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Nobody wants to wait

around for a slow website.

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But okay, this compression thing.

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I feel like there's got to

be a trade off somewhere.

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You don't get something

for nothing, right?

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Samantha Reed: You're absolutely

right to be thinking that way.

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Because yes, lossy compression, it's

great for keeping things compact,

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but it can impact image quality.

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Ethan Walker: Ah.

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Samantha Reed: And the

article makes this very clear.

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JPG's.

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Not ideal for everything.

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If it's got a lot of sharp

lines, text, high contrast areas.

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Ethan Walker: You can have some issue.

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Samantha Reed: You might see

some fuzziness, some pixelation.

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Especially if it's been downloaded

and re downloaded a bunch of times.

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Ethan Walker: Which, let's be

real, happens all the time online.

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Samantha Reed: All the time.

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So yeah, it's something to keep in mind.

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Ethan Walker: Okay, so maybe JPGs

aren't always the perfect choice.

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What about PNGs then?

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They always seem to fly a little under

the radar, but they can be pretty great.

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Samantha Reed: PNGs are interesting.

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Definitely underrated.

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Because unlike JPGs, they use

what's called lossless compression.

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Ethan Walker: Lossless.

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So no data is lost.

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Samantha Reed: You got it.

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It's like finding a way to pack

your whole suitcase without

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having to sit on it to close it.

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Ethan Walker: Love that analogy.

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Samantha Reed: So yeah, with a PNG, you

get those smaller file sizes without

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sacrificing any of the image quality.

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Ethan Walker: Okay, so it's

like the best of both worlds.

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Samantha Reed: In a lot of ways, yes.

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And one other thing the 95 visual

article points out is how good

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PNGs are at handling transparency.

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Ethan Walker: Which for things

like logos and icons, that's huge.

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Samantha Reed: Oh, it's essential

because you want that logo to look

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good on any background, right?

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Website, social media, whatever,

PNGs make that possible.

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Ethan Walker: Okay, so we've

covered a lot of ground here.

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SVGs, PDFs, JPGs, PNGs.

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This article from 95 Visual,

they focused on these four.

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Is there, like, a reason they left out

some of the other formats out there?

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Samantha Reed: Well, they're

focusing on the core formats that web

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designers use pretty much every day.

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But yeah, the tech world,

it never sits still, right?

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There's always something new

popping up, like WebP, for example.

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Ethan Walker: WebP, okay, yeah.

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I've heard that name floating around.

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It's supposed to be, what,

like the next big thing?

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Samantha Reed: It might be.

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Google developed it, and it's designed

specifically with the modern web in mind.

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Ethan Walker: Interesting.

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So what's so special about it?

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Samantha Reed: Well, it can often create

even smaller file sizes than JPGs or PNGs.

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No way!

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Yeah, while still keeping

the quality really high.

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It's pretty impressive.

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Ethan Walker: So are we saying

WebP is gonna like, take over?

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Replace all the other formats?

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Samantha Reed: It's hard to say for sure,

but it does show how this whole image

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format landscape is constantly shifting

and it really underscores this point

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that there's no single best image format.

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Ethan Walker: It all depends

on what you're trying to do.

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Samantha Reed: Exactly.

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What's the image for?

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Does it need to be super high quality

or is file size more important?

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Transparency, security, ask yourself

those questions first, and it'll make

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picking the right format way easier.

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Ethan Walker: It's like having

the right tool for the job.

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Samantha Reed: Exactly.

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Couldn't have said it better myself.

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Ethan Walker: This has been awesome.

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I feel like I've leveled up my

image knowledge today for sure.

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Samantha Reed: Glad to hear it.

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It's one of those things that might seem

small, but it can make a big difference.

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Ethan Walker: Huge.

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Well, a huge thank you to 95

Visual for the great information.

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We'll be sure to link to their

article in the show notes.

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And to everyone listening, thanks

for joining us for this deep dive

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into the world of image formats.

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Catch you next time.

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Speaker 2: Thanks for tuning

into the Business Ignite podcast,

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where we fuel your business

growth and marketing success.

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If you enjoyed today's episode,

be sure to rate and review us.

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It does help others find the show.

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Don't forget to follow us on social

media at Business Ignite podcast and

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share this episode with a friend.

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Keep the fire burning and remember,

your success is just one strategy away.

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Until next time, stay ignited.

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