Data portability
Imagine you take an image with your Android smartphone and want to share it with your friend who uses an iOS device. You can do this via email, messaging or social media apps, all of which provide data portability.
data portabilityThe legal right for computer users to obtain and move their personal data between different computers and IT environments is the ability for people to reuse their data across multiple applications and operating systems. For instance, data portability allows you to move image data between these different programs and computers. There are many portable file formats that allow us to share files.
Common file formats
| File extension | Description |
| JPG/JPEG | The JPG/JPEG is probably the most common file format now in use for storing digital images, especially on the web. It is ideal for images that use more than 256 colours, such as digital photographs. |
| TIFF | Like a JPG, a TIFF file can be compressed to reduce the file size, while still maintaining a high degree of image detail. Alternatively, it can be saved without compression to retain 100 per cent of the original image taken. |
| PNG | PNG stands for Portable Network Graphics. It also allows for a full range of colour and better compression. |
| PICT | Developed for Apple computers, PICT supports both bitmapped and vector, and has some limited text support between Mac applications. |
| GIF | Like the JPG, the GIF file format is commonly used on the web. It is ideal for images that have large blocks of a single colour, such as illustrations and logos, and it can support up to a maximum of 256 colours. |
| TXT | TXT is a file extension for a text file, used by a variety of text editors to store plain text. |
| CSV | A CSV (comma-separated values) file contains the values in a table as a series of text lines organised so that each column value is separated by a comma and each record is on a separate line.
Example:
|
| RTF | Rich Text Format is a file format that lets you exchange text files between different word processors in different operating systems. It allows text to be formatted and may also allow the use of colour and images. |
| mp3 | MPEG-1 Audio Layer-3 is a format for compressing sound into a very small file (about \(\frac{_1}{^{12}}\) the size of the original file) while preserving the sound quality when it is played. |
| mp4 | MPEG-4 Part 14 is a digital multimedia container format most commonly used to store video and audio, but can also be used to store other data such as subtitles and still images. |
| MIDI | Musical Instrument Digital Interface is a file format that provides a standardized way for music sequences to be saved, transported, and opened in other systems. |
| MPEG | Moving Picture Experts Group video file. Videos in this format are compressed using either MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 compression. This makes MPEG files popular for online distribution. |
| AVI | Audio Video Interleave is a commonly used file format developed by Microsoft for storing both video and audio data in a single file. |
| Portable Document Format file. PDF files can contain images, text, interactive buttons, hyperlinks, embedded fonts and video. You'll often see eBooks, flyers, job applications, scanned documents and brochures available in the PDF format. | |
| BMP | Bitmap images are large files that require a lot of storage space because no effort is made to reduce the file size. |
| File extension | JPG/JPEG |
|---|---|
| Description | The JPG/JPEG is probably the most common file format now in use for storing digital images, especially on the web. It is ideal for images that use more than 256 colours, such as digital photographs. |
| File extension | TIFF |
|---|---|
| Description | Like a JPG, a TIFF file can be compressed to reduce the file size, while still maintaining a high degree of image detail. Alternatively, it can be saved without compression to retain 100 per cent of the original image taken. |
| File extension | PNG |
|---|---|
| Description | PNG stands for Portable Network Graphics. It also allows for a full range of colour and better compression. |
| File extension | PICT |
|---|---|
| Description | Developed for Apple computers, PICT supports both bitmapped and vector, and has some limited text support between Mac applications. |
| File extension | GIF |
|---|---|
| Description | Like the JPG, the GIF file format is commonly used on the web. It is ideal for images that have large blocks of a single colour, such as illustrations and logos, and it can support up to a maximum of 256 colours. |
| File extension | TXT |
|---|---|
| Description | TXT is a file extension for a text file, used by a variety of text editors to store plain text. |
| File extension | CSV |
|---|---|
| Description | A CSV (comma-separated values) file contains the values in a table as a series of text lines organised so that each column value is separated by a comma and each record is on a separate line.
Example:
|
| File extension | RTF |
|---|---|
| Description | Rich Text Format is a file format that lets you exchange text files between different word processors in different operating systems. It allows text to be formatted and may also allow the use of colour and images. |
| File extension | mp3 |
|---|---|
| Description | MPEG-1 Audio Layer-3 is a format for compressing sound into a very small file (about \(\frac{_1}{^{12}}\) the size of the original file) while preserving the sound quality when it is played. |
| File extension | mp4 |
|---|---|
| Description | MPEG-4 Part 14 is a digital multimedia container format most commonly used to store video and audio, but can also be used to store other data such as subtitles and still images. |
| File extension | MIDI |
|---|---|
| Description | Musical Instrument Digital Interface is a file format that provides a standardized way for music sequences to be saved, transported, and opened in other systems. |
| File extension | MPEG |
|---|---|
| Description | Moving Picture Experts Group video file. Videos in this format are compressed using either MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 compression. This makes MPEG files popular for online distribution. |
| File extension | AVI |
|---|---|
| Description | Audio Video Interleave is a commonly used file format developed by Microsoft for storing both video and audio data in a single file. |
| File extension | |
|---|---|
| Description | Portable Document Format file. PDF files can contain images, text, interactive buttons, hyperlinks, embedded fonts and video. You'll often see eBooks, flyers, job applications, scanned documents and brochures available in the PDF format. |
| File extension | BMP |
|---|---|
| Description | Bitmap images are large files that require a lot of storage space because no effort is made to reduce the file size. |