Choosing the Right Image Format: SVG, PDF, JPG, PNG

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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

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share this episode with a friend.

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Until next time, stay ignited.