ALSO CALLED: Decompression Software, Text Compression Software, Uncompression Software, gzip Utility, Unzipping, Compression Software, Unzip File Utility, Data Compression Software, and Zip File Utility
DEFINITION: Image compression is minimizing the size in bytes of a graphics file without degrading the quality of the image to an unaccceptable level. The reduction infile size allows more images to be stored in a given amount of disk or memoryspace. It also reduces the time required for images to be sent over the Internet or downloaded from Web pages.

There are several different ways in which  … 
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FILE COMPRESSION SOFTWARE DEFINITION (continued): …  image files can be compressed. For Internet use, the two most common compressed graphic image formats are the JPEG format and the GIF format. The JPEG method is more often used for photographs, while the GIF method is commonly used for line art and other images in which geometric shapes are relatively simple.

Other techniques for image compression include the use of fractals and wavelets. These methods have not gainedwidespread acceptance for use on the Internet as of this writing. However, both methods offer promise because … 
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