Why does file format matter?

- As you start working with digital images,…you'll encounter many different file formats,…and not all of these are going to work…with your business software.…Now, a lot of times the formats are intelligently handled,…but you'll encounter far more than you'd think about,…particularly if you start dealing with…downloads or different types of computer applications.…So, why do file formats matter so much?…Well first up, one of the things that…you must keep in mind is that the extension…at the end of the file is very important.…

This tells the computer how to interpret the data,…and it's the difference between something…that's a Word document versus a video that you watch,…versus an audio file or an animation file, or a picture.…The file format specifies how the information is encoded,…therefore alerts the computer how to…decode that information.…Which application should be used,…or can the data be properly parsed?…It specifies how the bits have been used…to encode the information, and if the computer…doesn't understand this, then it's just looking…