Sometimes abbreviated as pic, a picture is a visual capture of an object. Pictures can be created using devices such as a digital camera, scanner, smartphone, or are works of art created on the computer. The photograph of a man setting up pictures shown here is a good example of something that can be considered a picture.

If a visual object is made on the computer and not captured by another device, it may be called a clip art, graphic, illustration, render, or screenshot.

Camera terms, Computer abbreviations, Gallery, Image, PICS, Picture element, PIIX, Video terms

On Windows computers, pictures save to the My Pictures or Pictures folder by default. If you’ve downloaded a picture from the Internet, it will be stored in your downloads folder. For help locating your downloads folder, see: Where are the files I downloaded using my web browser?

Pictures on a computer often have one of the following file extensions: .bmp, .gif, .jpg, .png, .tiff (or .tif) and can be edited using an image or photo editor.

  • Where can I find free public domain images and pictures?
  • How many MP3s or photos can I put on my flash drive?
  • How to insert an image in a text file or document.
  • How to send an attachment or photo through e-mail.
  • How to copy text and images from a web page.
  • How to download an app, file, or program from the Internet.
  • What’s the difference between an image, photo, and a picture?
  • Image help and support.