PDF vs. JPEG: What's the difference?

Oct 13 - 2023

PDF vs. JPEG: What's the difference?

PDF vs. JPEG: What's the difference?

There are two most common file data formats: JPEG and PDF. They are both used to save and share service content. In terms of displaying digital images and text teaching content management, merge 2 jpg files into 1 pdf each has advantages and disadvantages, and here we can gain a deeper understanding of the nature and functions of JPEG and PDF so that they can be used in a correct setting.

How does JPEG work?

Joint Photographic Expert Group (JPEG) is one of the world's most popular image formats. It compresses colorful photos to a small size, making it ideal for sharing and storing digital images, and transferring them over the Internet, social media, and email.

How does PDF work?

Portable Document Format is an abbreviation of Portable Document Format, meaning "portable Document Format". It is a file format developed by Adobe Systems for file exchange, independent of applications, operating systems, and hardware. PDF files are compatible with Windows, Linux, and Apple's Mac OS operating systems, as they are platform-independent.

This feature makes it an ideal file format for electronic document distribution and digital information dissemination on the network. More and more e-books, product descriptions, company circulars, web materials, e-mails are being created with PDF files. Moreover, PDF is ideal for printing, because it maintains the integrity of all page components and ensures the quality of the image when magnified.

How do JPEGs and PDFs differ?

In some cases, there is no difference between JPEG and PDF when it comes to storing and sharing image and text data.

Aspects of compression

By removing redundant images and color data, very high compression rates can be achieved while displaying very rich and vivid images. JPEG uses lossy data compression, which can permanently damage a file when compressed. The file size is relatively small, so it is easy to store and share on the network. In other words, better image quality with minimal disk space.

As a result of the compression method used in PDF, its original quality is not compromised, but the file size will be larger than that of a JPEG file. Words, fonts, formats, colors, graphics, and images can all be encapsulated in a PDF file, which is suitable for storing rich documents. However, it is difficult to integrate into web pages.

Avaliable for editing

The main advantage of PDF is that it maintains the layout of the content, so that different components are independent, all parts can be edited, different component content can also be edited separately (requires a specific editor, such as Acrobat Pro), and electronic information such as hypertext links, audio and moving images can also be included in the file.

During generation of JPEG files, all the content is in one layer, is a whole, and cannot be edited.

Students can copy part of the text or image information content in PDF if certain circumstances apply. We can only embed images in JPEG files in China if we want to embed the entire design file in other related documents. PDF cannot embed the entire design file in other related documents.

Problems with JPEG and PDF files

Which picture quality is better, JPEG or PDF?

The visual quality of PDF is high, and it is also the preferred format for printing files due to its lossy data compression. JPEG uses lossy data compression, resulting in irreversible loss of quality.

What is the size difference between PDF and JPEG?

Since PDF can display content-rich media (video, audio, animation, and other information interaction design experiences), it is typically larger than JPEG in this situation. As a result of its lossy data format, JPEG has a lower quality management tradeoff than PDF, which is another major reason it's smaller than PDF.

Is it possible to convert PDF to JPEG or JPEG to PDF?

You can convert PDF to JPEG using the plotter's PDF to picture feature 

What is the best way to digitally sign a JPEG file?

Digital signatures cannot be made with JPEGs. You can add graphics and text to a JPEG by using the Drawing tool on the Edit menu and saving the file again. But this method isn't standardized, and many recipients might not be able to accept it. Signing a JPEG file physically and then scanning it for digitization is a more legitimate way to sign a document.

Basically, PDF is very suitable for students to study digital signature, they can directly use the digital signature function in the PDF editor to sign, there are many third-party payment tools we can use to analyze digital signatures, and the signature is legal.

By:Deborah