Over time, a variety of means have been developed to encode graphics and to display them. Some of these long predate popular use of the Internet; some have grown up alongside its widespread use.

Different graphical formats were created to meet different needs - whether maximum image clarity (in some cases) or minimal file size (in others). There are nearly always a series of trade-offs between the criteria that are used for a given format.

The most common graphical formats for general use on the Web can be recognized by the suffixes attached to an image's filename: .gif (short for 'Graphics Interchange Format' and sometimes prounounced 'jiff'), .jpg (JPEG) or .png (ping).

Jiff (.gif) files are widely used, especially for buttons, dialog boxes and other user interface elements. So-called JPEG files became a popular format for saving photographs. Ping (.png) is the most recently created and is felt by some to offer a better balance of file efficiency and quality.

JotSpot is agnostic with respect to graphics formats and even more so with respect to uploading graphical files. JotSpot will upload any file you choose. Whether or not this file can be displayed by your browser depends entirely on the browser. JotSpot simply passes an attached image file to the browser for it to process.

All modern browsers should display .gif, .jpt and .png files accurately.

If your browser cannot recognize an attached image file, simply delete it.