File Format

What Does File Format Mean?

A file format refers to the way data are arranged logically within a file. File formatting allows a program to retrieve data, correctly interpret the information and continue with processing.

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Techopedia Explains File Format

A file format includes the data encoding process, which ideally minimizes the required storage space. For example, picture and video encoding contain embedded processes like compression, where a picture is divided into pixels. A correlation is then derived to express pixel relationships. In this case, the difference between neighboring pixels is minimal, resulting in the addition of few differential data.

A file format may also contain presentation information. For example, a Microsoft .docx file contains both the document’s text and its final form, including color, position, spacing, font, font size and other information, which must be arranged in a standard form inside the file.

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Margaret Rouse

Margaret Rouse is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical, business audience. Over the past twenty years her explanations have appeared on TechTarget websites and she's been cited as an authority in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine and Discovery Magazine.Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages. If you have a suggestion for a new definition or how to improve a technical explanation, please email Margaret or contact her…