Re: Best format to post schematics?

["B Fuhrmann" <b-fuhrmann-usenet@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

"William at MyBlueRoom"  wrote ...
> I've recently setup a web site www.myblueroom.com with a handful of
> schematics on it.
>
> Currently they (you click on the thumbnail) an get a 200/300dpi .PNG
> file.
>
> I would like to use .PDF but is this a better format? or .GIF?


PDF is not "a" format.  Internally it can have multiple formats.  If your
PDF generating software can include the schematic from a vector source, it
would be the best by far.  With a vector format, you print it on any printer
or zoom in almost indefinitely without looking chunky.

BMP, PNG, GIF, TIF, and JPG are all bitmap formats.  Bitmaps are made of
dots.  Zoom in and eventually the dots show up.

JPG is in a class by itself in that it uses a compression format that throws
out part of the picture.  It was designed for photographs and so that the
detail it throws out is not all that visible at lower compression ratios.
However, if you compress line art (like a schematic) with the compression
method, it will create small speckles along all edges.  The higher the
compression setting is, the more pronounced the trash is.

 BMP and color TIF files do not compress the picture at all and tend to be
larger files.
Black and White (not even gray) TIF files can use Group 4 compression which
comes from the fax standards.  It is lossless but can compress the pictures
an amazing amount.