Electronic book formats FB2, EPUB, MOBI and others. E-book formats: what they are and how they differ

Photographers never stop arguing about which format to choose for photographs when shooting. It's about about RAW and JPEG (sometimes JPG). Despite the fact that in general most experts understand the difference between these two formats, the understanding of amateurs is not always clear. Photographer and teacher Wayne Rasku, who teaches web-based photography classes in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, has pulled together the information and controversy. In the article, he tried to explain what the essence of formats is and how to understand which format should be used to obtain maximum effect as a result.

photo by Luis Valadares

JPEG vs RAW

JPEG is a common format for photographs, it's simple. If you send images to the Internet or print pictures, then most likely the files are saved in JPG format. However, JPEG “has accumulated questions” regarding the integrity of the images. Of course, the format is described as the most common image compression format, the main one for most digital cameras. But technically it is a “lossy alteration” that degrades the original images. This is where the main problem lies, the starting point of discussions about what format to take and save pictures in.

What is the disadvantage of lossy compression? Essentially, the camera is initially programmed to transform the file to smaller size by discarding some pixels. Depending on the selected settings, the compression will be greater or less. If you set the file size to the largest possible, the camera will “discard” the minimum amount of data. If you need to fit as many pictures as possible on the memory card, you set a lower resolution - for example, 640x480, with the maximum possible for a 10-megapixel camera being 3648x2736. The camera simply will not save all the “extra” pixels, leaving only required amount. For viewing on the display of a digital camera, this may be quite enough, but for printing large-scale images, the quality will be completely unacceptable. Those same unpleasant pixel squares will remain in the picture, and the photo will have to be reduced, sometimes to unacceptable sizes.

Any post-processing, including Photoshop, compresses images even more. Most people don't morph their images multiple times, but if you do, the problem becomes even more pronounced.

How RAW format different from JPEG?

By changing the file format in the camera from JPEG to RAW, you “warn” it that there is no need to process the images at all, so it saves all the pixels in the image. That's all. The resulting file will be much “heavier” than when choosing JPEG, even if the latter is set to largest size frames. Also, the difference between the formats is the “depth” of the pixels. JPEG uses 8-bit, whereas most digital SLR cameras the range is 13-14 bits per pixel. This spread results in areas of similar brightness being combined, which is not the case when choosing the RAW format. This affects, in particular, white balance and the ability to fine-tune exposure. By the way, when working with RAW, you can make an HDR photo from a single file.

photo by Peter Majkut

The next logical question is how to properly process a photo in RAW so that it can be printed or posted online? The situation is almost the same as with film cameras: to see a full-fledged photograph, you need to tinker with the negative. It's the same with RAW - you need post-processing software, it will help you do original file suitable for further use.

Another important difference RAW - You won't be able to use any of the camera's "creative" modes. Available manual setting aperture and shutter speed, but when you select preset combinations of parameters (“party”, “sunny beach”, and so on), the camera will automatically change RAW to JPEG.

To summarize: this format saves for you full set pixels, but you will have to learn how to process images. In addition to this, you can format your photos, crop them, and make them brighter in post-processing with minimal loss.

What is the essence of the dispute about the choice of format?

Some photographers advocate RAW, others are supporters of JPEG. This is due to several reasons. Firstly, not all cameras support the RAW format. For example, in compact digital cameras it is not provided. On the other hand, filming in it allows you to “use all resources” and get the highest quality results. RAW followers say that with him they can get full control above the pictures.

Some, including highly professional authors, resist, continuing to work in JPEG. They claim that, being confident in their abilities, they can get good result and in this format. In their opinion, RAW lengthens the workflow due to painstaking post-processing and deprives the photographer of the opportunity to spend most of his time on shooting. JPEG fans don't want to sit at the computer, they want to work more directly with the camera.

Another argument against RAW is file size. It is almost twice as large as JPEG, and the memory card resources are exhausted faster. It is also inconvenient to store them on a hard drive if you shoot a lot. RAW formats are not unified; they differ depending on the camera itself, even down to the extension. In particular, for Nikon it is a.NEF, and for

Questions about how the form of an electronic document differs from its format have appeared ever since the Federal tax service gave the go-ahead for the use of electronic tax accounting primary documents. This happened more than three years ago. However, these concepts are still confused. Let's figure out what is what.

What are electronic document formats?

To answer this question, let's start with a small classification. The entire list of documents used today in organizations can be divided into two groups:

1. Documents that can be used both in paper and in in electronic format(consignment note TORG-12, invoice, universal transfer document, certificate of completion of work, invoice for payment, supply agreement, etc.).
2. Documents that are allowed to be used exclusively on paper (a copy of the invoice provided by the agent to the principal, waybill (waybill), declaration of conformity, etc.).

IN in this case We are interested in documents of the first group, which are permitted by law to be created, transmitted and stored electronically. However, it is worth keeping in mind that some formats electronic documents The law imposes strict requirements, as well as on the form of a number of electronic documents.

.XML – a unified format for accounting documents

ED, the format of which is clearly described and defined by law, are called formalized. These include: an invoice, a waybill TORG-12 and a certificate of completion of work.

All other electronic documents (invoices, letters, powers of attorney, transaction passports, etc.) are unformalized. There are no special requirements for their formats. The form of these electronic documents is also not important.

Formalized documents are created according to Federal Tax Service formats. Today, a single format is legally approved for electronic originals - .XML, for scanned copies - .JPG, .TIFF, .PDF, .PNG.

What’s interesting: there is a mandatory electronic invoice format that meets the requirements of the Federal Tax Service - this is .XML. And there are recommended formats for the act and TORG-12, and this too. XML. Despite the fact that you can exchange primary documents in any format, when claiming electronically, the tax office will only accept documents in .XML format. If you exchange the primary document in a different format, you will have to submit it to the Federal Tax Service on paper. Inconvenient, isn't it? Therefore, to avoid confusion, we advise you to use the formats recommended by the Federal Tax Service.

The form of an electronic document is not its format

Step by step we are getting closer to understanding what an electronic document format is. Actually definitions this concept maybe several. This is a structured set of data, convenient for storage and automatic processing. The format can also be called encoded text information, which is responsible for the distribution and presentation of data in the ED.

Below you can see what an electronic invoice looks like in .XML format. Its body consists of markup elements and the data array itself. You can familiarize yourself with the requirements for the electronic invoice format in the text of the Federal Tax Service Order No. ММВ-7-6/93@ dated 03/04/2015.

Now let's move on to the form. If the format is responsible for the “internal content”, then the form of the electronic document is its “face”. In other words, what ED looks like on a computer screen or on paper is its form. For some documents, the law defines a rigid form. This primarily concerns the invoice, the form of which is approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of December 26, 2011 N 1137.

So, let's draw conclusions. Among the entire array of forms and formats, there are mandatory and recommended ones. To understand once and for all the state of affairs with the forms and formats of electronic documents, just read the following table.

Electronic books (readers, readers) have long become common devices for a wide range of users. Their advantages: accessibility of content (you can download the necessary book from the Internet in a matter of minutes), an E-ink screen that does not damage your eyesight, the ability to have a collection of thousands of books in the reader, long work on one charge, settings for font type and size. Not long ago, e-books with backlit screens appeared - they allow you to read in complete darkness. In general, the advantages of readers can be listed for a very long time.

However, when getting acquainted with e-readers, users often have one problem. People who decide to purchase a reader for the first time, when faced with the concept of "formats e-books", they often do not understand what they are talking about. The problem is especially relevant for beginners, to whom the abbreviations "FB2", "EPUB" or "MOBI" mean absolutely nothing.

The so-called formats are Various types electronic text files, which are supported (reproduced) by one or another. IN electronic libraries Internet is often offered big set file types: FB2, EPUB, MOBI, PDF, DOC, RTF, TXT and others. The choice is wide, and this poses certain challenges for beginners. We will describe the main formats of e-books, tell you how they differ from each other, which readers are supported, and which format is better to choose if you have a multi-format reader that reads all formats.

Varieties of formats

1. FB2 (FictionBook)- an e-book format that was created by a group of Russian developers. Books in this file type have a structured appearance (that is, they contain a breakdown by chapter, content, illustrations, cover). In addition, this standard stores information about the file (so-called tags: author, title, genre), which is read by the reader and allows the user to conveniently sort files on the device. This type of file takes up a small amount of space, can be archived, and is also easily converted into other formats. Among the features: due to the fact that the format was originally developed for the Cyrillic alphabet, texts in Russian in FB2 have word hyphens.

The format was originally designed for Russian users, and it is practically not used abroad. That is why FB2 is not supported by the world's popular e-reader manufacturers - Amazon and Barnes & Noble. But this is the main file format for e-readers popular in Russia from Pocketbook, Onyx and Wexler. In addition, Sony readers now support FB2 - after entering the Russian market, the company developed official firmware for a reader that allows you to read books in FB2.

2. EPUB (Electronic PUBlication)- the most popular in the world electronic format for readers. Barnes & Noble and Sony readers work with it. In terms of layout structure, this type of file resembles an archived web page containing text, graphics, embedded fonts, and illustrations.

In addition to Western brands, the EPUB format is supported by models from manufacturers focused on Russian market(Pocketbook, Onyx, Wexler) due to the rapid growth of popularity in our country. Besides, this standard e-readers use iPhone and . Apple's proprietary program for iBooks reading supports EPUB.

3. MOBI- format of e-book readers. Gaining popularity in Russian online libraries as Kindle becomes more popular in Russia. Other readers support this format “for show”. MOBI is similar in properties to EPUB. Amazon recently introduced another format electronic texts Kindle Format 8 or KF8 (it features richer formatting) with the clarification that new and old Amazon readers will not stop supporting MOBI.

4. TXT- format of simple text documents. You can convert text from another format to TXT with a simple copy-paste action. Although this type The file is supported by almost all e-readers and takes up very little space in memory; we would not recommend reading books in it on e-readers. TXT lacks formatting, markup, hyphenation, and alignment. It is suitable for short text notes, but not for full-fledged e-books.

5. PDF (Portable Document Format)- an electronic document format created by Adobe Systems. Inconvenient for use on readers for a number of reasons. Firstly, files in this format are very bulky, as they are designed for the power of a computer, and open quite slowly on e-readers. Secondly, if the file is not specifically designed for the screen of a 6-inch reader, which has a format similar to an A6-sized paper sheet, then read on it PDF format A4 (and most PDF files are presented in the size of a standard paper sheet) will be very difficult. In PDF, you can only increase the scale, but not the font size, which means that only some part of the page will be able to fit on the screen. You will have to read the pages in parts, and this is very inconvenient.

For PDF reader adapted, the screen size of which allows you to reproduce the page on a scale large enough for comfortable reading.

6. DJVU- a format designed for storing scanned documents - books, articles, manuscripts. A book in DJVU is actually a collection of scanned pages. In terms of reading comfort on 6-inch readers, everything is similar to the story with PDF. You won't increase the font size, just the scale. When zooming, the page will extend beyond the screen, and you will have to constantly move the area of ​​the enlarged text to read - there is no need to talk about comfortable reading. For DJVU readings choose readers with a 9-inch screen. However, even on 9-inch e-readers the capabilities easy reading DJVUs depend on how well the book presented in this format is scanned.

7. LRF- formerly a proprietary format of Sony readers. On new models (starting with PRS-T1) it is no longer used, as it has given way to EPUB. Converts very poorly to other file types. Despite the fact that it is still represented in some libraries, its use is recommended exclusively for owners of older Sony models.

8. RTF (Rich Text Format)- format for storing text documents. Belongs to the category of “computer”, not “book”. Reading in RTF on readers is not very convenient - these are large files, and the speed of the reader is reduced by an order of magnitude.

9. DOC(and DOCX) - text documents Microsoft Office. These formats are supported by quite a lot of readers, but specifically for reading documents, not books. Large files in this format can be large in size and difficult to work with on readers. It is better to convert multi-page books in DOC to FB2 or EPUB.

We have listed the main formats of e-books. We will not consider the completely exotic types of files that are sometimes found on the Internet, but rather decide which of the above formats is most convenient for reading books on electronic readers.

Which e-book format to choose

If you have an e-reader that supports all formats, then you can choose a specific file type based on a number of factors. Let's say you buy your first e-book and you don't have collected collection books, for example, in FB2. In this case, choose the file format that is best reproduced by your reader. Traditional "book" EPUB formats or FB2 for the reader (and for the user) are more preferable and convenient than “computer” PDF, TXT, DOC, DOCX and RTF.

In the case of 9-inch readers and the need to read DJVU and PDF, all other things being equal, we advise you to give preference to the latter, since PDF is a more modern format, and books in DJVU are often of poor quality.

From the point of view of ease of use, the advantages of “book” formats are obvious: EPUB, FB2 or MOBI look visually better in the menu of your reader (book covers are displayed), they are more convenient to sort (there are tags: author, title, genre), they take up much less memory space and speed of the reader with such formats will be significantly higher.

Do I need support for all formats?

In our opinion, it is not at all necessary to choose an all-format reader. Many users who have ereaders that support all formats download books in one or two file types. All e-readers (including multi-format ones), one way or another, have a main format, and in the end you won’t exchange for others. For Pocketbook, Onyx and Wexler the main formats are FB2 or EPUB, for Barnes & Noble () and Sony - EPUB, for Kindle - MOBI.

In the case of Amazon and Barnes & Noble readers, if the book you need is in a format that these readers do not support, you can use a converter (for example, Caliber). This is a program that is installed on your computer and allows you to convert the same FB2 to MOBI or EPUB in a matter of minutes.

Reading books in the reader’s native format is better than using those installed on the reader additional programs. Our advice: take a few minutes to convert a book, for example, from RTF to EPUB using the Caliber converter. This is more convenient than reading it “in the original” using additional installed program(on Sony PRS-T1 or Kindle) or encounter more slow work devices (for example, on Pocketbook readers).

Remember that the main thing is the ease of use of an e-book, and not the number of formats stated in its parameters.

Enjoy reading!

Hi all! Everyone has seen pictures on the Internet with such a postscript as bmp, png, jpg or gif(or others)? For example, foto.png or foto.jpg. This graphic files different formats .

I think I'm not the only one who has wondered what the difference is between these image formats? Let's try to figure it out.

What are image formats and why are they needed?

I won’t clutter the article with too many smart words. Moreover, I myself do not always understand their meaning. Image format in relation to the Internet and computer (by image I mean some kind of graphic information– photographs or drawings) are a way to store and, accordingly, transmit pictures as an element of information.

This is a kind of tool, material or method with which you can save your favorite picture to your computer or transfer your photos from your camera to your PC. In general, it is a way of encoding information.

Let's take a non-computer example. Let's say you decide to preserve your bright image for posterity and order your portrait. But portrait is different from portrait. It can be done different materials, different instruments, different techniques. You can contact a photographer, artist or even a sculptor.

(To illustrate my words, I took portraits of Vladimir Semenovich Vysotsky, may those who find this inappropriate forgive me)

The photograph can be black and white, color, digital, paper, or in slide form. An artist can make your portrait with paints, pencil, ink, on paper, on canvas, on the wall. A sculptor can make a portrait from plaster, marble, wood, metal...

In general, there are countless options. But any of them will be your portrait.

Same thing with image formats– there are many options.

But they can all be divided into two large groups - raster and vector. But no, there is another group - mixed, or complex, where would we be without them in the modern world :)

We are more interested raster formats– these are the ones you most often encounter. But a few words need to be said about other groups.

Vector images based on geometric shapes– points, curves, circles, polygons. Vector images can be enlarged without losing quality. Examples vector files – svg, cdr, eps. But, to be honest, I have not encountered such formats.

Complex formats, as the name suggests, have features of both vector and raster images. Most famous example files of this format pdf. Surely everyone has come across them: many electronic books and documents are stored in PDF format.

Raster images

Most common image formats –jpg (jpeg),gif,png,bmp. All of them belong to the raster group.

Raster images, upon closer inspection, consist of small squares - pixels. Therefore, unlike vector images, raster images high magnification lose in quality.

Here's an example raster image and its parts under magnification.

Do you see how blurred the picture is when zoomed in?

But editing, storing and transmitting raster images is much easier than vector ones. This is very important for ordinary users.

You can work with rasters in such convenient and well-known editors as Adobe Photoshop and Paint.

Characteristics of raster images

One of the disadvantages of raster images is that such files are stored in compressed form and cannot be restored when displayed on the screen or printed. original appearance, quality suffers to one degree or another. But often these losses are not even noticeable, so do not get upset and refuse to use raster graphics. Moreover, according to big score, there is no alternative.

The most common image formats are definitely BMP,GIF,PNG, JPEG.

The first group includes BMP, GIF, PNG formats, the second – JPEG. Lossless compression is based on removing redundant information, while lossy compression is based on discarding information that human vision does not perceive.

What are the differences between the image formats bmp, png, jpg, gif

I wrote a lot, a lot above, but still did not answer the question in the title. I don't know if I can answer, but I'll try.

But first, a little illustration. I took one picture and saved it in separate folder in several formats. The results are clear. Pay attention to the weight of images of different formats.

FormatJPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) is a joint group of expert photographers. That was the name of the company that developed this format. Perhaps the most common image format that everyone who has ever sat down at a computer has encountered. Edit jpeg files possible in almost any graphic editor. During compression, the color of neighboring pixels is averaged. This causes losses in quality. However, the quality of such images is not bad, even good when compared with some other formats.

In addition, jpeg files weigh little. They can easily be sent from phone to phone, by email or posted on the Internet. Also, the small size allows you to store a large number of images.

FormatBMP (Bitmap Picture) – raster image. The image quality is excellent because the information is almost not compressed. But the size of such files compared to jpeg is huge.

FormatGIF (GraphicsInterchangeFormat) – graphic data exchange format. Very popular format. It allows you to save animated images. Although it is considered outdated. But judging by the popularity of gifs, this format will not disappear from the scene anytime soon. Of course, gif will not work for photographers - the number of colors in this format is very limited to 256. But on the Internet it is almost the main format. Another important plus - gif files support transparency mode.

FormatPNG(Portable Network Graphics) – portable network graphics. The format was developed to replace GIF format. There is even an unofficial decoding of the acronym as “PNG is Not GIF” - PNG is not GIF. This format not only supports transparency, but also translucency from 1% to 99%, which is a big plus. But PNG cannot store multiple images in one file, like GIF. Therefore, it cannot be used to create animated pictures.

Of course, I haven't talked about all image formats. But these are the most common. Therefore, I think my article was useful to you “What is the difference between image formats?bmp,png,jpg,gif".

If the information was interesting and useful, subscribe to announcements of articles on, and also share the article with friends on social networks. Social media buttons are below the article, subscription form is via the link above or in the form at the top left.

Good luck to you in all your noble endeavors!

Photographers never stop arguing about which format to choose for photographs when shooting. We are talking about RAW and JPEG (sometimes JPG). Despite the fact that in general most experts understand the difference between these two formats, the understanding of amateurs is not always clear. Photographer and teacher Wayne Rasku, who teaches web-based photography classes in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, has pieced together the information and controversy. In the article, he tried to explain what the essence of formats is and how to understand which format should be used to get the maximum effect in the result.

JPEG vs RAW

JPEG is a common format for photographs, it's simple. If you send images to the Internet or print pictures, then most likely the files are saved in the JPG format. However, questions have accumulated regarding JPEG regarding the integrity of the images. Of course, the format is described as the most common image compression format, the main one for most digital cameras. But technically it is a "lossy alteration" that degrades the original images. This is where the main problem lies, the starting point of discussions about what format to take and save pictures in.

What is the disadvantage of lossy compression? Essentially, the camera is initially programmed to transform the file to a smaller size by discarding some of the pixels. Depending on the selected settings, the compression will be greater or less. If you set the file size to the largest possible, the camera will discard the minimum amount of data. If you need to fit as many pictures as possible, you set a lower resolution - for example, 640x480, while the maximum possible for a 10-megapixel camera is 3648x2736. The camera simply will not save all the “extra” pixels, leaving only the required number.

For viewing on the display of a digital camera, this may be quite enough, but for printing large-scale images, the quality will be completely unacceptable. Those same unpleasant pixel squares will remain in the picture, and the photo will have to be reduced, sometimes to unacceptable sizes.

Any post-processing, including Photoshop, compresses images even more. Most people don't morph their images multiple times, but if you do, the problem becomes even more pronounced.

How is the RAW format different from JPEG?

By changing the file format in the camera from JPEG to RAW, you “warn” it that it does not need to process the images at all, so it saves all the pixels in the image. That's all. The resulting file will be much “heavier” than when choosing JPEG, even if the latter is set to the largest frame size. Also, the difference between the formats is the “depth” of the pixels. JPEG uses 8-bit, whereas most DSLR cameras range from 13-14 bits per pixel. This spread results in areas of similar brightness being combined, which is not the case when choosing the RAW format. This affects, in particular, white balance and the ability to fine-tune exposure. By the way, when working with RAW, you can make an HDR photo from a single file.

photo by Peter Majkut

The next logical question is how to properly process a photo in RAW so that it can be printed or posted online? The situation is almost the same as with film cameras: to see a full-fledged photograph, you need to tinker with the negative. It's the same with RAW - you'll need post-processing software to help make the original file suitable for further use.

Another important thing RAW difference- you will not be able to use any of the “creative” camera modes. Manual adjustment of aperture and shutter speed is available, but when selecting preset combinations of parameters (“party”, “sunny beach”, etc.), the camera will automatically change RAW to JPEG.

To summarize: this format saves the full set of pixels for you, but you will have to learn how to process the images. In addition to this, you can format your photos, crop them, and make them brighter in post-processing with minimal loss.

What is the essence of the dispute about the choice of format?

Some photographers advocate RAW, others are supporters of JPEG. This is due to several reasons. Firstly, not all cameras support the RAW format. For example, it is not provided in compact digital cameras. On the other hand, filming in it allows you to “use all resources” and get the highest quality results. RAW devotees say it gives them complete control over their photos.

Some, including highly professional authors, resist, continuing to work in JPEG. They claim that, being confident in their abilities, they can get good results in this format. In their opinion, RAW lengthens the workflow due to painstaking post-processing and deprives the photographer of the opportunity to spend most of his time on shooting. JPEG fans don't want to sit at the computer, they want to work more directly with the camera.

Another argument against RAW is file size. It is almost twice as large as JPEG, and the memory card resources are exhausted faster. It is also inconvenient to store them on a hard drive if you shoot a lot. RAW formats are not unified; they differ depending on the camera itself, even down to the extension. In particular, for Nikon it is a.NEF, and for Canon it is a.CR2. If you frequently use different cameras, this can make life more difficult.

You also need to remember that outdated software cannot work with images from cameras latest generation. As photographer Ken Rockwell, a fierce opponent of RAW, argues, "Someday we will simply not be able to open our old files because required versions the software will no longer exist." And if you constantly update the software, be prepared to lose images taken years ago. With JPEG this problem is not present - and this is an argument worth considering.

And finally, the main thing. How to understand which format is right for you

If you know how to quickly and easily work with specialized photo post-processing software, and want full control over the nuances of editing your photos, you should go for RAW. By the way, it is not necessary to buy programs. The format is supported even in free software (such as Picassa), not to mention a variety of specialized software.

If you don’t want to add another, and difficult, stage to the workflow, you are not ready to overcome the next step in the art of photography, or you are not going to purchase specialized programs, select JPEG format.

You just need to remember that such a file cannot be converted to RAW, but quite the opposite. Therefore, most professional photographers still try to get to know the more labor-intensive format better. RAW is the key for them a large number opportunities. In addition, there is always a compromise: you can save pictures on the camera in two formats at once. If the memory card capacity is sufficient, this best option: you will leave the most successful pictures unchanged in JPEG, and for those that require correction, you will take them from a RAW source.

A small note for those who still chose RAW. There are several successful comprehensive programs, working with which it will be possible to realize all the possibilities of the format. One of the most popular - Adobe Lightroom. There are many tutorials on the Internet that tell you how to edit raw files using powerful, interesting software tools. The program is especially suitable for landscape photography: if you like working in nature, it's worth mastering Lightroom, and you will be impressed with the results.