which type of picture file

there are different image types, jpg, png etc.

which image type should i choose for screenshots? i'm looking for-

1. acceptable quality,nothing special, text should be clearly readable
2. the size of the picture file should be as small as possible
3. as basic as possible

 

I've seen postings (elsewhere? here?) that strongly recommend using PNG if you're trying to post a copy of the image with your forum message. It's similar to JPG but virtually loss-free -- I'd imagine file sizes are larger than JPG for that reason.

 

If you don't want to compromise on the quality - png.
Mrk

 

png w/ compression gives almost the same size as gif (256 color).
but GIF is more portable (>> older comps).