【 File Format 】What is it? + What types are there? ▷ 2022

On many occasions, we have to present documentation electronically and we doubt the file format we have to use for it. It is very important to always choose the right one and, therefore, it is necessary to know which ones exist and towards what type of file they are oriented.

The file formats actually belong to certain standards. Computers work by processing these formats in order to preserve the information. In general, if the user wants to know the format (to find out more about its particularities) he only has to look at the file extension and this will tell him a lot about what the file in question contains.

That is why you will understand the logical and necessary to know the main types of file formats, what they are and what they are for these standards to identify documents. We invite you to continue reading so that you can learn more about them and that this information is useful to you in your day to day.

What is a file format and what are these standards for?

A file formatas its name indicates, is a way to organize the files that compose it (that is, give them shape)which is not visible nor does it imply any type of change for the user.

The type of file format that we will choose It depends on what we are going to use it for. this and the requirements of the content and its particularities.

Therefore, we have to take into account several factors:

file quality. Most multimedia formats have to use compression methods to avoid space problems. This causes some loss of quality and fidelity of the uncompressed data in relation to the appearance of the file originally, you have to decide if you prefer to sacrifice it to gain weight or if you would like to stick with a balanced file.
Compatibility. Each software manufacturer creates its own format of file according to this to be able to treat it and create fully compatible content possible with your products.There may be certain limitations either when viewing or in the printing, reproduction, modification, etc. options.
Format characteristics to use. They depend on the color, the background, the animation, the vocal details… This section is important, above all, in relation to multimedia files, since depending on the format they have, they are treated in one way or another and we must check which one would be the one that interests us the most if we are going to play them on the web, if we are going to record on a CD, if we will store it in an external memory, etc.

File extension; How to identify each format with them?

The first thing to note is that when we talk about file format we are not referring to the extension of the same. In fact, we confuse them and use them as synonyms when they are not.

Both concepts are related, since by knowing the letters that indicate the extension we will probably be able to know what type of file we are reviewing and what are many of its characteristics. But there are file formats that have different extensions and we can choose one or the other. This means that, we repeat, they are not the same.

The file extension is the letters that appear after the point at the end of the name of this. It usually gives us data about it and indicates the type of file that we are going to treat.

Next, we indicate the most popular extensions for each file format. However, we need to remember that there are dozens and dozens of them of all types (You can learn more about the subject and more in depth in this specific post about ).

graphic files

For graphic files we have two general extensions that are the ones that reign in the market and some others that are used in more particular cases:

.gif. It is the most widely used file format on the Internet. Your compression is at a moderate levelso the files occupy more than if we mounted them in other formats, but they do not lose almost quality in the image. It is not indicated for photographs that have high color resolution. It is the best format for images of type text and lines by drawings. They allow to integrate transparent areas and animated graphics.
.jpg. It is the most used format for photographic images and also the one that best compression is capable of providing. In fact, it is the user who decides the degree of compression that you want to achieve, although that clashes, of course, with the quality of the file. It does not allow the option of transparency or animated graphics.
.tif. It is used for images whose final destination is the print on paper and scan. both his weight as their quality are very tall.
.png. Raster image format used by most office applications and ideal for logos by be kept without a background and by using a limited color palette.
.bmp. Format lossless raster (very heavy) used, in its early days, for Windows desktop background images (bitmaps).
Other well-known ones, although of much lesser use (or of specific use) are .svg, .ai, .pic, .wmf, .eps…

text files

For this type of document it is important to know the need for external contributions to shape what has been written and highlight everything that interests us. The more you add or the greater format you want to give to that writing, the more you will have to consider when choosing the type of format to use and, with it, the extension it will have.

Take a look at the following extensions:

.doc. This is the type of file used by Microsoft Word, the Microsoft office suite text creation and editing software. It is the most used by everyone and can be read by most word processors. This is precisely due to what we mentioned at the beginning about compatibility.
.pdf. This is the file format used by Adobe. It offers the possibility of format text and graphics. It is the most used on the Internet, because does not allow to modify the internal content of the documents and, with it, it has become a content display standardwidely used to consult information on various computers.
.txt. a file of plane text. The WordPad program itself (with which these files are read) is installed as a root component of the Windows operating system. The most important trade-off is that does not allow text formatting. In fact creating files named as plain text means just that.
.rtf. It is a format of rich text. It is compatible with Word, but smaller than its default, .doc.
.html. Its about text format in which websites are created. In order to read it, it is necessary to have a browser like Internet Explorer, Opera or Netscape Navigator, to name a few.
.nfo. Accompanies compressed files and is used to create small texts.
Others are .odt, .wri, .epub, .log, .notebook, .dic or .docx.

Compressed or encrypted files

In this type of files it is very important to know what each extension indicates to know which program we should use to open them. Well, here it is true that there are more incompatibilities:

.arc/.arj. These are compressed type files that are practically no longer used.
.bin. We are talking about a file that contains binary coded programs.
.exe. These are files that contain the program executables in Windows. When we double click on these files, Windows Explorer starts the program that contains and we can interact with its graphic part.
.zip. It is the compression format most used nowadays. The Winzip program is needed to be able to compress and decompress the files.
.rar. Is about another widely used compression format. To be able to compress and decompress the files it is necessary to have the Winrar program.

video files

In the case of video formats, it is likely that we have a program that opens all the files, especially if we have installed codec packages that are used precisely for that, but it is interesting to know the most characteristic of each of the extensions to know What are we going to find when we see a file or, on the contrary.

When we want to create a file and Let’s seek to provide it with certain characteristics that are of interest to us:

.avi. It is the format of standard video that Windows works with. It can be played with Windows Media Player, a program that is installed within those found in the root of the system. Has a very high qualityaccording to its weight and works with all kinds of codecs.
.mpeg. It is a video format that works by compression system and can be used on all platforms. It includes several standards, among which MP4 stands out.
.mov. is the video format standard that Apple works with. In order to use it, the QuickTime program must be downloaded from the Internet, available for free. It is very good for editing work and also for streaming and posting on the net because of its high quality but not excessive weight. It includes own and exclusive codec of this format.
Some others that you may have also heard are .mkv, .asf, .QT, .webM, .flv, .RM and of course .DVD.

audio files

Audio formats have practically all surrendered to the most revolutionary format for years, but even so, they also depend a lot on where they are going to be reproduced and this is where the decision to use one format or another lies.

Check out these sound formats:

.mp3. It’s all about the format most revolutionary known today for the Internet. The quality is quite good and the space it occupies is little. You need to have a player installed on the computer, but in Windows, for example, Windows Media Player is enough for us. It can also be played on portable devices.
.wav. This is the sound format created by Microsoft. Encodes with PCM to avoid loss of quality (its weight is enormous), it is used for store original audioeven professional and allows work with different sample size in 8 or 16 bits.
.aiff/.au. This is the sound format that Apple uses equivalent to the previous one. Encodes in PCM, is of high quality, does not compress and has dual channel stereo.
.wma. A Microsoft alternative to .mp3 that is nothing more than a .wav that does compress to different variables According to the need.
.ra. It is the format chosen by the company RealNetworks. It needs to be played with the Real Player program, which can be downloaded from its website on the Internet. Used to retransmit on the Internet through packets and is adaptable to the requirements of reception of the user.
you will also find .ogg, .flac, .alac, .dsd, .midi, .cda, .aac, .ac3…

Database files

This may not be very important for a medium level user, but For programmers, this is a very important differentiation to carry out their tasks:

.sql. It is the format used for databases using Oracle. allows the management of algebra and the use of relational calculations.
.mdb or .accdb. This is the format used for…