"TIFF" stands for "tagged image file format." This is a picture format that may not be used by other programs and websites. So, if you want to use an image you have in Tiff format such as a picture to upload to a picture website, or to use on a device for which it isn't compatible, you may have to convert it to a more compatible format first, such as JPEG.
Online Conversion
A speedy way to download your Tiff files to JPEG is to use a conversion website. An example would be Media-Convert (see Resources). This website lets you input a file by hitting the "Browse" button that's right next to the box marked "File." You can find your Tiff file, double-click on it, and have it not only appear in the "File" box automatically, but the website will also automatically identify the file as a TIFF file and list it as such in the box marked "Input Format."
Downloading the Converted File
There's a box further down the page marked "Output Format" that you can click on, which will activate a drop-down menu. Choose from a variety of image formats here, including JPEG. Once the conversion is all set, clicking the button "OK", which is next to the text "I Accept the Terms", will begin the conversion process. This should be only a moment or two, since image files are usually pretty small size. Once it finishes, click on a download link that will let you get your new JPEG file.
Converting with a Program
Another way to convert the file, would be to download and install a conversion program on your computer. An example of such a program is Format Factory (see Resources). Once you've opened the installation file and installed this program, you can use it at any time to convert image files. The "All to JPEG" button is under the "Image" tab in the main program window. You can add multiple files to be converted from that screen, and then convert them all at once in the main screen with the "Convert" button.
As electronic transfer of images becomes more popular, it is sometimes difficult to understand the many choices of file extensions available today. Two common file extensions are PDF and TIFF.
Benefits
Both files are more sophisticated than the commonly-used JPEG because they allow for information,such as dimensions or copyrights, to be attached to the file. The TIFF is a container for compressed images and metadata. Both files are viewable on most operating systems.
TIFF
TIFF stands for "tagged image file format," a raster image file that enables the author to add as little or as much information as she desires. For advanced users, the format offers greater flexibility in pixel compression and color space.
PDF is the acronym for "portable document format." Like the TIFF file, it allows for information to be attached to the file in the IFD or "image file directory." The PDF was originally developed by Adobe as an archival file format. Adobe also owns the TIFF format specifications.
Limitation
TIFF files, which were developed in 1992, have not had any significant updates since 1995, resulting in a size limit of four gigabytes. This limitation can be frustrating since current technology creates larger, more detailed files.
OCR
File choices
The most noticeable difference in the two formats is OCR, or "optical character recognition." The PDF file has this ability, so text within the file can be searched. TIFF files do not offer text recognition.
GIF and TIFF files are computer graphics files that are used for images and photos in computer applications. GIF stands for graphics or raphical interchange format, while TIFF, which is sometimes written TIF, is an acronym for tagged image file format. While both are used for images, GIFs tend to be used for small graphics while TIFFs are used for larger, more complex images.
Characteristics
A GIF may contain up to 256 indexed colors and is known as a lossless format, which means image clarity is not reduced by compression. Pixels in a GIF must be either fully transparent or fully opaque. TIFFs can be used to represent raster and vector images and support color depths from 1-bit to 24-bit.
Category
GIFs and TIFFs are categorized as raster image files. A raster uses bits of information, which appear on a screen or page as pixels, to represent points of color that are combined to create a finished image.
Uses
GIFs are often used to create images for websites, including those combining an image with text, such as buttons. They are especially useful for small images. They can also be used for simple animations known as animated GIFS. The TIFF format was designed to be a standard format for high-quality graphics on multiple platforms and are useful for storing multi-color, high-detail images such as digital photos.
Pros and Cons
The small file size of a GIF makes it ideal for transmitting over a network, which is why it is popular with Internet applications for small icons and animations, but it lacks the range of color to properly recreate more complex images such as photographs. The TIFF format is excellent for capturing detail, such as that contained in a photograph, but its popularity has waned in the Internet age, with the smaller file size of JPEG images more suitable for transmission over the web.
Compatible Programs
Programs on the Mac OS that support the GIF and TIFF formats include Apple Preview, Safari, Adobe Photoshop and Photoshop Elements, The Logo Creator, Nuance OmniPage Pro X and Roxio Toast 10 Titanium. Windows programs that use the GIF and TIFF formats include Adobe Photoshop and Photoshop Elements, Adobe Illustrator, CorelDRAW, Corel Paintshop Photo, The Logo Creator, ACDSee Photo Manager 2009, Nuance PaperPort 12, Nuance OmniPage Professional 17 and Roxio Creator 2010. GIMP (Graphic Image Manipulation Program) supports the GIF format on the Linux operating system.
TIFF, or Tagged Image File Format, is a file format used to store image bitmaps -- pictures in which each picture element, or pixel, corresponds to one or more binary bits in memory. PDF, or Portable Document Format, is a file format used to store any combination of text, graphics and images independently from the hardware, software and operating system used to create them in the first place.
History
The TIFF format is the older of the two, having been created by the Aldus Corporation in the 1980s; the TIFF specification is now controlled by Adobe Systems Inc., but has remained largely unchanged since 1992. The PDF format was created by Adobe in 1993 and, following several revisions, was published as a publicly available standard by the International Standardization Organization in 2008.
TIFF
TIFF is a file format, rather than an image format, so a TIFF file can contain images of several different types. These include the Fax Group 3 encoding format, traditionally used for faxing black-and-white office documents and engineering drawings, Fax Group 4 and JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group), used for color and gray-scale documents. The TIFF format is the format of choice for creating and storing high-quality, professional photographic prints, magazine layouts and posters.
There are three different types of PDF files. The "normal" format is the most common and is typically created from a standard word processor document; it contains the full text of the page along with codes to define fonts, type sizes and other elements. An "image only" PDF file is created by converting a scanned TIFF image to PDF or scanning an image directly to PDF, while a "searchable" PDF file is an image-only file that contains additional text generated by an optical character recognition generator.
File Size
Typically, a TIFF file of a page and a PDF file of a page require approximately the same amount of storage space, although this does depend on the type of PDF file and the method used to compress any images in the file. A TIFF file is typically larger than a normal PDF file of the same document, especially for color documents, while a TIFF file is typically smaller than an image-only PDF of the same document, if both use Group 4 compression for the images.
TIFF and PSD are both image formats. To understand the differences between them, review image file formats and the factors that affect the size of an image format. Although TIFF is a flexible format that in principle allows various forms of image data compression, by far the most common use for it is to save image data uncompressed, especially as the output of a scanner. Thus, TIFF files tend to be larger.
Factors Affecting File Sizes of Image Formats
The factors that affect the size of an image format are: Information stored in the image file in addition to the image; and image data, which includes the number of pixels in the image (not affected by dots per inch), depth (bytes needed to store color value for each pixel) and data compression algorithm, if any.
TIFF & PSD File Formats, A Little History
Some file and image data formats are proprietary and some are open source.
PSD (Photoshop Document) is the Photoshop native file format, owned by Adobe, though the format is published and readable by other apps, and most image editing applications can read PSD files. A PSD file not only contains image data but various other data, including layers and text. The Photoshop program can save files not only in its native PSD format but also most other image formats.
TIFF (Tagged Image File Format) was invented by Aldus, a company bought by Adobe. Hence Adobe now own the TIFF copyright, but for all practical purposes it is an open source format.
Other well-known image file formats include GIF, JPG and PNG.
A file format often implies a particular compression algorithm but not always. JPG is a compression algorithm as well an image file type. TIFF is not. It is either uncompressed (most common) or uses one of various compression algorithms.
Compression algorithms are lossless or lossy: image quality degrades with a lossy algorithm. Adobe PSD files compress image data using RLE -- Run Length Encoding --- a lossless compression algorithm. The popular JPG compression algorithm, however, is lossy.
The effect of a lossless format is that you can copy and edit it endless times without degrading the quality of the underlying image. This is not true of lossy formats such as JPG. For this reason, if you use JPGs and edit them, you should keep the original file and not save over it.
RLE is a fairly simple compression algorithm that gives a color value and the number of pixels of that color. For example, a file showing a checkerboard might have "10 x black," "10 x brown" repeated a number of times. RLE is very effective where there are large blocks of flat color. This is often the case in graphic design, the original primary use for Photoshop.
File Size Comparison Experiment
Compare file sizes by examining three images with the dimensions of 1,000 pixels by 1,000 pixels in standard RGB 24-bit depth. The first file is a flat blue color, the second is an "Amber Waves of Grain" poster with a photo occupying one-third of the space, plus a caption. The third file is a "Rainbow Waves" poster with various sections copied onto new layers and edited with different colors. A Photoshop file with multiple layers can contain image data stacked over the same pixel, so its size can exceed an uncompressed file. In each case, a PSD file was saved plus a flattened version as a TIF file.
In Sample 1, the BlueFile.tif is 2,952 kilobytes, while the BlueFile.psd is 83 kilobytes. The extreme difference is because this image consists of the same color in all pixels. An uncompressed TIFF file must record each pixel with its color 1 million times. The PSD file records the image data as "1 million x blue."
In Sample 2, the AmberWaves.tif is 2,957 kilobytes, while the AmberWaves.psd is 1,582 kilobytes. RLE used on a detail photograph, or any image where the color changes from one pixel to the next, does not make a huge difference to the file size. PSD still has a size benefit here because a fair amount of the image is flat background. The PSD file is half the size of the TIF.
In Sample 3, RainbowWaves.tif is 2,957 kilobytes, while RainbowWaves.psd is 3,729 kilobytes. The Photoshop file contains multiple layers with image data on each, so the total image information must give values for more pixels than there are in the file dimension.
Notice in these three comparisons the TIF file is always the same size because all three files are 1,000-by-1,000-pixel, 24-bit color. The PSD file size changes radically depending on the complexity of the stacked image data.
An Encapsulated Postscript (EPS) file is a type of file that can contain any combination of text or images. It is an extremely versatile file format and is less compressed than the more commonly used Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG or JPG) file. Less compression results in higher-quality images. When you convert existing JPG files into EPS format, images are enhanced and text can also be included. You can download free versions of software programs and freeware applications to use for the conversion process.
Download Image Converter Plus
Use Image Converter Plus to convert your JPG files to EPS format. Select a JPG file from your computer's hard drive (or from a CD), specify the destination folder you wish to save it to, edit the size of the image and convert it. To download the program click on the "Free download" link (on the homepage) and save the executable (.exe) file to your computer. Ensure that you save it in a folder that you are familiar with such as "My Programs." Click to "Install" the program. You may also purchase the licensed version of Image Converter Plus, which has additional features and offers technical support, for $49.
Use Image Converter Plus
Open Image Converter Plus by clicking on the desktop icon or by selecting the "Start" menu followed by "All Programs" and then "Image Converter Plus." Select a JPG file and right-click on it. On the context menu select "Convert to submenu" from the list and select the "Custom conversion" line. To add other files, press the "Add image" button and select more files in JPG format to be converted. Select the EPS format as the target format. Expand "Save images in EPS format." Click "Start" to begin the file conversion. The JPG file will now be converted to EPS format. Watch the video tutorial for additional information about Image Converter Plus.
Download Universal File Converter
Use a freeware program such as Universal File Converter. The program converts any printable document to all major file formats preserving the exact look and content of the original document, complete with fonts and graphics. When you use the application's Print command instead of printing on paper, Universal Converter converts the document to the desired output format. You can create files directly from Microsoft Office applications, database applications, word processing applications or common authoring applications. Click on the link to "Download the program." Ensure that you save it in a folder that you are familiar with such as "My Programs." Click to "Install" the program.
Use Universal File Converter
Open Universal File Converter by clicking on the desktop icon or by selecting the "Start" menu followed by "All Programs" and then "Universal File Converter." You can see the Universal Converter object in the "Printers" folder, and you may convert any document to the desired output format by selecting "Universal converter printer." Select a JPG file, click on "Settings," then "Printers." In the "Printers" menu select "Universal Converter." Select "File Format" and choose "EPS" and click "Print." The JPG file will now be converted to EPS format.
The world of graphics has two versatile high-quality formats that work well with raster or vector, or both. TIFF and EPS have similar abilities for handling bitmap images. But TIFF is the best suited for the bitmap world of pixels, with its acceptance across applications and computer platforms. EPS, although versatile for formatting bitmap images and vector art, is best matched with PostScript printers, since it was created for that specific purpose. Nonetheless, it's best to communicate with the company printing your job. Always know how the company will print your job and understand which format will work best to get you the professional results you want.
TIFF
The TIFF, or Tagged Image File Format, is best for saving raster or bitmap images. TIFF is one of the most flexible formats that can be opened and edited in any digital image-editing program. Page-layout and paint programs also support the format that offers the highest quality output for images, making it ideal for print media, such as newsletters, magazines, and books. Although TIFF is ideal for raster, it doesn't work well with vector files. If a vector drawing is saved as a TIFF, the TIFF will convert the lines and curves to pixels. So the vector also cannot be scaled up without losing quality.
TIFF Specifications
In Photoshop, TIFF images contain layers and transparency. However, when placed in other applications, the TIFF will be featured as a flattened image. The format can support several color modes, such as CMYK, RGB, Lab and grayscale images with alpha channels. TIFF images also are capable of "tagging" images with specific details, such as a tag stating the width or depth followed by the number.
EPS
EPS, or Encapsulated PostScript, was created to communicate with PostScript technology, such as a printer. The strength of EPS is that it was created to help media print successfully. The EPS format is able to do this for vector graphics, raster images and text. Since EPS is a PostScript file, its versatility is supported by vector drawing applications and page-layout applications. Even though it can translate information from both vector graphics and raster images, it doesn't change how the raster and vector application will display it. For instance, if you open an EPS file that contains vector art in a digital imaging application, the program will convert the vector elements to pixels.
EPS Specifications
The EPS format supports several color modes just like TIFF -- such as Lab, CMYK, RGB, duotone, grayscale and bitmap color modes. If a printer doesn't support PostScript, it may still print an EPS file, although EPS was created to communicate with PostScript printers. However, the quality of the print may not match the quality of the original art.
Adobe Inc. invented the PostScript page description language for use in high-quality printers, such as laser printers. One of the file types designed to work together with PostScript is the EPS, or Encapsulated PostScript File. While this kind of file format has fallen a bit out of favor with even professional printers, it still can have its uses for high-quality printing.
Vector EPS
High-end graphics programs, such as Adobe Illustrator, the former Aldus Freehand, can use the EPS file format for vector drawings. In fact, because of the nature of vector illustrations, EPS is an ideal format for these images. The reason is because if you import a vector EPS file into a desktop publishing program, such as PageMaker, QuarkXPress or FrameMaker, you have wide latitude in resizing the image. Most other formats do not allow this. For example, if you import a TIFF, or Tagged Image Format File, into QuarkXPress, you can only increase the size of it by approximately 10 percent before the image quality starts to degrade. You would need to resize a TIFF in Illustrator or Adobe Photoshop before you could enlarge it beyond 10 percent in a desktop publishing program. Vector ESP graphics files will open in Photoshop, but editing is limited.
Photo EPS
EPS photo files work differently and do not provide the latitude in resizing in a desktop publishing program that vector graphics do. However, because EPS files are formatted specifically for PostScript output, you can get high-quality photographs printed with a laser printer from them. TIFF has largely taken over for EPS in professional photo-printing. Newspapers and magazines often now use Portable Document Format, or PDF, files for photo and page output where they used to use EPS files.
Separations
Photoshop also can produce alternate EPS files known as Photoshop DCS 1.0 and Photoshop DCS 2.0. These version of the EPS are especially useful for professional printers who need each color photo or color page saved in a separate plate for use on a printing press. This means that a single photo or magazine page is broken into five separate files. The first is a low-resolution image that you can see and place in a desktop publishing program's page. The other four separate out the colors needed for the press: cyan, magenta, yellow and black, known as CMYK, where "K" stands for "Registration." This plate is used to align the other color plates to produce one image on the press.
Installation
To use separations with an EPS file in Photoshop, you need to make all your color and tone adjustments with the photo in RGB or red, green and blue color format first. The reason is that images tone better in RGB for translation into CMYK. After you have set the color, tone, resolution and size of your image, go to the "Image" menu and select "Mode" and choose "CMYK Color." Then, go to the "File" menu and select "Save As." In the pop-up dialog box, click the scroll button next to "Format" and select "Photoshop DCS 1.0" or "Photoshop DCS 2.0." DCS means Desktop Color Separations. When you click the "Save" button, another pop-up appears where you install your EPS parameters. You can set how you will see the "Preview" of the image; how you want it printed as a DCS EPS file, such as "Multiple File With Color Composite (72 pixel/inch)"; and how your printer needs it encoded, such as "ASCII" or "Binary."
Graphics software such as Adobe Illustrator creates a number of different file types. One common file type created by Illustrator is the EPS document. EPS files can be used for a number of different purposes with a variety of programs. One program that uses EPS documents is VE LXi. If you are having trouble opening an EPS document with VE Lxi, it could be a couple of common issues.
EPS
EPS stands for encapsulated PostScript file, which is an Adobe file type associated with Illustrator. It allows the user to save a graphic design file and allow another user to open it and have complete control over the file's layers, transparency, text and image elements. The EPS file gives the user the ability to print high quality images and the freedom to make edits to someone else's work, as long as you have a compatible program.
VE LXi
Vinyl Express LXi (VE LXi) is sign-making software. It is a graphics design tool that allows the user to create, design and edit graphics that will eventually be used for signage. It incorporates layout features and a rich catalog of fonts and graphics. You can use VE LXi to import other file types to use them in your final sign layout. One of the file types that's compatible with VE LXi is the EPS file.
Compatibility
VE LXi is compatible with Adobe Illustrator EPS files. However, depending on your version of VE LXi, this compatibility will be limited. As an example, import an EPS file up to Adobe Illustrator version 10.0 and export up to Illustrator 6.0 for any version of VE LXi 7.5 and higher. If you are trying to import an EPS file that was created with a version of Illustrator greater than 10.0, you will not be able to utilize the document. One way around this is to ask the person who created the EPS file if he has the capability of saving the document in an earlier generation.
File Extension
The file extension are the letters that appear after the "." in a file name on your system. It is what the computer examines to determine what program is required to open it. In a file name, tilted "letter.doc," the computer would recognize this is a Microsoft Word document and then use Word to open the file for editing. EPS files are designated by the ".EPS" following the file name. If the extension is missing from the file name, VE LXi will not know that it is an EPS document and assume that it is an incompatible file format. This can be fixed by renaming the file and adding the ".EPS" to the end of the file name.
Identification
A PSD (Photoshop Document) is a file created and saved in Adobe Photoshop, a graphics editing software. It is a proprietary file that still contains layers, thus making it easy to modify.
Features
Adobe Photoshop allows the user to edit and retouch existing photos or create new images. It is extremely popular and widely used in the graphics industry.
Function
Usually the PSD file is converted to another format such as a JPEG after it is complete. This allows the file to be used by most software packages that can import images.
Potential
PSD file formats can be opened by some Adobe programs and other competing image editing programs. The file can then be edited in the new program and saved in another format.
History
According to Adobe Photoshop News.com, in 1987, Thomas Knoll wrote a computer code on his Mac Plus computer. This code, originally called Display, allowed the displaying of grayscale images on a black-white bitmap monitor. This initial code was the beginning of a collaboration with his brother John and resulted in the creation of the software package called Photoshop.
Many image files on the Internet are PSD, or Adobe Photoshop Document, files. You might come across a PSD file that was not converted to a JPEG file format and want to view it. Because the browser does not know which program to use to view the files, you will need to tell the browser what to do upon opening a PSD file to view it. There are certain plug-ins and programs to view these files as well as edit them.
What is a PSD?
The PSD file is the native format of the graphics and images made within the Photoshop program, owned by Adobe. The purpose of this type of image is to edit it. The PSD is made up of many layers--sometimes hundreds--and each layer is rendered separately, one at a time within the image-editing software program, many times slowing it down. Opening more than one of the PSD files at one time in Photoshop, or other image-editing software program, can crash a computer. In contrast, a JPEG only has one layer, which is why almost any program, including all browsers, can open it.
PSD Editors
If Photoshop is not available, the PSD files are compatible with other free image-editing programs. Some of these include Picasa 3.6, from Google. The GIMP, or the GNU Image Manipulation Program, from The GIMP Team, and Paint.Net, which is based on Microsoft's .NET Framework. All of these can open PSD files to view or edit them as if they were a native format. But they do not have a separate viewer to simply view the files.
PSD Viewers
Not many programs can open a PSD file with the sole purpose of viewing it. This is because of the multiple layers. Some viewers can render the layers as one complete file and open the file like a JPEG. Some of these include IrfanView, MyViewPad, and Picasa 3.6. These programs are free and are obtainable for downloading though their respective websites, or through Downloads.CNet.com
Windows Thumbnail
The Windows thumbnail extension, or plug-in, for the Internet Explorer browser can open and view PSD files easily. It opens the PSD, as well as 18 other image file formats, in a thumbnail type view, directly within an Internet Explorer window. One downfall is depending on the type of folder view used, a virus could sneak by as a PSD. Because in certain types of folder views, Explorer does not display known file extension names, such as .exe. A person opening what they think is a PSD file might actually be an .exe file.
A PSD contains all of the fonts you can access in other programs on your computer, such as word processors and other graphic design software. But when obtaining a PSD from an outside source such as another person, fonts used in that document that aren't in your font book will revert to a font that is. However, there is a way to locate any font and make it available in your PSD.
Finding Fonts
A PSD is a type of file created in Photoshop. PSDs contain all of the individual layers that eventually comprise a completed graphic in Photoshop, including text layers. To determine what fonts are available in your PSD, create a text layer by clicking the "T" graphic in your toolbar. Then, a drop-down arrow will appear in the top-left corner of your screen, which allows you to see and activate any of your available fonts.
Where Fonts Live
Fonts don't actually reside in the Photoshop program itself. Any fonts installed on your computer will be available in Photoshop. So if you want to use a font that you have available in Microsoft Word, for example, that same font will be available to you in Photoshop.
Adding Fonts
Fonts are available for download online. Some font downloads are free, but most cost money. If there is a font that you like, or a font used in a PSD that you've obtained that isn't on your computer, the best way to search for that font is with an online search engine. Be descriptive in your search; physically describe the font you are looking for. "Bold country western font," for example, will land on several websites offering something you're sure to like. Even including where you've seen the font helps: "Font from No Country For Old Men" will find you a few options similar to the font used on the movie poster for the film "No Country for Old Men."
Installing fonts
Once you've downloaded the font, uncompress (or unzip) the file if necessary. Once you've uncompressed the file (which will have a file extension like .otf, .ttf or .fnt), open it. The interface that opens will show you every possible character in that font. In your interface, click on the icon labeled "Install." Once the font is installed, you'll automatically be able to use it in any program -- not just Photoshop.
An RTF file is a word processing file type that can be opened through many different word processing programs and is a way to save word processing files that need to be accessible to users with different software.
History
RTF stands for Rich Text Format. It is a document file format standardized by Microsoft in 1987 as a universal standard for exchanging documents between different programs and operating systems.
How It Works
An RTF file saves text with limited formatting--such as paragraphs, bold and italicized text, and a few other features--in text and ASCII format, somewhat similar to what HTML looks like. By being in ASCII format, it allows many different word processing programs to open the file and edit it. ASCII stands for the American Standard Code for Information Interchange and is a code for representing English characters as numbers, with each letter assigned a number from 0 to 127.
How to Open
Almost any word processor out there is able to read and write RTF documents. You can even open up an RTF file with a Web browser to view it. RTF documents can also be opened with simple programs, such as Notepad for Windows-based machines, or TextEdit for Mac OS-based machines.
Converting Files
You can convert an RTF file to any other word processing document type you like by opening it, then choosing "Save as" and choosing the file type you want to save it as.
Saving as RTF
Every word processor has the option to change the format in which you are saving your document. From that menu, select RTF and it will save the file as such.
The file extension .rtf stands for "Rich Text Format." This extension will normally be found at the end of word-processing documents, but unlike other common extensions, such as Microsoft Word's .doc, this extension designates a file that can be opened by most programs with formatting preserved. While Microsoft Word has a 95 percent market share, amounting to some 400 million copies of the program, that leaves millions of users who rely on other word-processing programs, creating a need for cross-platform documents.
History
Microsoft has been continuously developing Rich Text Format since its initial release in 1987, about six years after the first release of Microsoft Word. RTF capability was included with Microsoft Word from that initial release (version 1.0). There have been eight subsequent versions; the latest version, incorporating revisions to Word 2007, is v. 1.9.1.
Features
Rich Text Format, according to programmer Sean M. Burke, includes plain text, commands, escapes and groups. The plain text uses seven-bit ASCII characters, except backslashes ( / ) and braces ( { } ), sometimes known as curly brackets; these symbols are used to designate commands and groups. Burke explains that a Rich Text Format document includes four components: a prolog, which starts with a "{" and then has essential information for the document, such as fonts; then some optional document-formatting commands, such as page numbering; then any amount of commands, groups, plain text and escapes, which designate formatting for specific blocks of text; then a closing "}" that closes the group opened by the start of the prolog.
Benefits
According to the documentation for the 1992 release of version 1.0, the "RTF standard provides a format for text and graphics interchange that can be used with different output devices, operating environments, and operating systems," including OS/2, Windows, MS-DOS and Apple. As with HTML, the code for a Rich Text Format document can be edited directly with Notepad or similar plain-text editors.
Significance
Rich Text Format is important as an alternative to Microsoft Word's .doc file type, according to a Colorado State University tutorial, because despite the Microsoft Word program's popularity, not everyone uses it. The tutorial recommends RTF for posting documents to the Web because other file formats, including PDF and HTML, "require more work to preserve formatting and accessibility."
How To
If you have one of the popular word-processing programs, including Microsoft Word or WordPerfect, you probably already have the capability to create RTF documents. Simply select "Save As" from the "File" menu and choose "Rich Text Format" from the options listed there. If you receive an RTF file, simply open it as you would any word-processing document.