A comparison of image formats

This page compares various image formats accepted by Wikipedia Commons. The examples used are all map images, but the views expressed here apply to all images.

Wikipedia accepts images in numerous file formats. The most common of these are .PNG, .GIF, .BMP and .JPEG, which are all "bitmap" or "raster" formats. and .SVG, a "vector" format. The difference between the two types is that a raster-format file contains information about the color of each pixel in the image, while a vector-format image conatins information specifying the shapes that make up the image.