sparse disk image and normal disk image

[Yaja123]

is there a difference between these two beyond the obvious - one grows and the other is a fixed size?

i have a 500mb encrypted disk image at the moment that i keep my personal files in - an archive of files that i want to keep but are longer being used regularly. its almost full and i was wondering to switch to a sparse image with encryption instead of creating a new disk image.

ive found the disk image unshakeably reliable and feel very safe using it. is the sparse image the same in this way?

then i can creat a 1.5gb sparse image and prob not worry about it for a long time.

thanks in advance

[EGT]

I think both are fixed in their capacity from when they're created. A 500mb sparse image won't store anything larger than 500mb. It won't grow when it reaches that 500mb capacity.

A sparse image will only take up the space of what's stored in it. The 500mb sparse image with 200mb of data will only take up 200mb, whereas a standard disk image will take up the full 500mb on your hard drive, even though it doesn't have that much data stored in it.

I think that's how it works anyway.