“I need that gif…jif…gift…file as soon as possible.”
Those shouldn’t be the words of a savvy marketer, but alas, they are mine…quite often, actually.
Almost daily, I have to tell the graphic designers on my team what type of file format I need a certain asset in. Because I don’t quite know how to pronounce them, I’m pretty sure I sound like an idiot every time.. Some are simple: EPS, PSD, PDF — you just say the letters and there you have it.
But what about Gif, Tiff and the others?
So, for the benefit of myself and my readers…here are the correct pronunciations for four image files that you’ll run into as a marketer.
Gif is Pronounced “Jif”
I don’t feel bad for not knowing this one, because this was finally cleared up by the creator of the gif this year. Gif stands for Graphics Interchange Format, and they are compressed images that make them easy for transferring across slower connections and creating hilarious looping videos (like the one below) but the image quality is no where near that of a high res jpg.
Png is Pronounced “Ping”
Portable network graphic, aka Png, is actually a step up from a Gif. They support transparency (Pngs are awesome for PowerPoints by the way), but they’re still not as high quality as a Jpg.
Jpg/Jpeg is Pronounced “Jay-Peg”
The standard for most images we see online is the Jpg (you’ll also see it as “Jpeg”). Fun fact: Jpgs are named after the committee who created the file type – Joint Photographic Experts Group. Although they’re much higher resolution than gifs, they’re still not high enough quality for print.
Tif/Tiff is Pronounced Like “Tif” in Tiffany
Ok, this one’s a gimme. While it’s not something you’ll use much in a digital marketing role, this file type is a high-res file that can be used for print. It stands for Tag Image File Format.
Now, I can go to work with my head held high and pronounce Jpg like a pro! Are there any I’ve missed?
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