Unless you're a graphic designer by training, chances are you've never been required to understand things like what separates a TIF from a PDF or a PSD.
While the enormous variety of image formats may seem overwhelming, there is a procedure to the craze.
We've put together a useful outline to assist you to understand the distinction between each file format, and when they are right to use.
Have you attended your designer talk about DPI or PPI? DPI stands for "dots per inch" and PPI translates to "pixels per inch."
These units of measure are essential for determining if the density of pixels in an image is right for the application you are using.
The most significant thing to note when resolving what DPI or PPI you require is if you are using an image for print or web.
Websites display photos at 72dpi, which is low resolution; however, images at this resolution look crisp on the web.
This is not the print case. Best methods for printing an image will require it to be no less than 300dpi.
You can also reduce and enlarge the image for various purposes.
If you want a guide for this you can go through techspunk.com, where they provide such an informative article about how to enlarge the image without reducing quality.
Don't try to trick the system. Plenty of magic can happen in Photoshop, but creating pixels out of thin air isn't one of them.
Pulling an image off of the web and trying to get it to fit the measurements of your print project just won't work. You will finish up with a pixelated image that appears stretched and distorted.
JPEGs might be the most common file type you run across on the web, and more than likely the type of image that is in your company's MS Word version of its letterhead.
JPEGs are known for their "lossy" reduction, meaning that the quality of the image decreases as the file size decreases.
You can use JPEGs for projects on the web, in Microsoft Office documents, or for projects that need printing at a high resolution.
Spending attention to the resolution and file size with JPEGs is essential to produce a nice-looking project.
While there is no such need today, .jpg remains the standard and default on many photo software programs.
PNGs are excellent for interactive documents such as web pages but are not fit for print.
While PNGs are "lossless," suggesting you can edit them and not lose quality, they are yet low resolution.
The reason PNGs are used in most web projects is that you can save your image with more colors on a transparent background.
This creates a much sharper, web-quality image.
GIFs are most familiar in their animated form, which is all the rage on Tumblr pages and in banner ads.
It appears like every day we visit pop culture GIF references from Giphy in the comments of social media posts.
In their more basic form, GIFs are created from up to 256 colors in the RGB colorspace. Due to the restricted number of colors, the file size is drastically decreased.
This is a common file type for web projects where an image requires to load very quickly, as opposed to one that requires to retain a higher level of quality.
A TIF is a big raster file that doesn't lose quality. This file type is known for using "lossless reduction," meaning the original image data is retained still of how often you might copy, re-save, or compress the original file.
Despite TIFF images' capability to recover their quality after manipulation, you should avoid using this file type on the web.
Since it can take forever to load, it'll harshly impact website performance. TIFF files are also commonly used when saving photographs for print.
PSDs are files that are made and saved in Adobe Photoshop, the most famous graphics editing software ever.
This type of file contains "layers" that make modifying the image much easier to handle.
This is also the program that generates the raster file types mentioned above.
The enormous disadvantage to PSDs is that Photoshop works with raster images as opposed to vector images.
PDFs were invented by Adobe to capture and review rich knowledge from any application, on any computer, with anyone, anywhere.
I'd say they've been pretty successful so far. If a creator saves your vector logo in PDF format, you can consider it without any design editing software, and they can use this file to create further manipulations.
This is by far the best universal tool for sharing graphics.
EPS is a file in vector format that has been created to produce high-resolution graphics for print.
Almost any kind of design software can create an EPS.
The EPS extension is more of a universal file type that can be used to open vector-based artwork in any design editor, not just the more common Adobe products.
This protection file transfers to designers that are not yet utilizing Adobe products but maybe using Corel Draw or Quark.
AI is, by far, the image format most preferred by designers and the most reliable type of file format for using images in all types of projects from web to print, etc.
Adobe Illustrator is the industry standard for creating artwork from scratch and therefore more than likely the program in which your logo was originally rendered.
Illustrator produces vector artwork, the easiest type of file to manipulate.
It can also create all of the aforementioned file types. Pretty cool stuff! It is by far the best tool in any designer's arsenal.
INDDs (InDesign Document) are files that are made and saved in Adobe InDesign.
InDesign is generally used to create larger publications, such as newspapers, magazines, and eBooks.
Files from both Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator can be integrated into InDesign to produce content-rich designs that feature advanced typography, implanted graphics, page content, formatting information, and otherworldly layout-related options.
A RAW image is the least-processed image type on this list it's often the first structure a picture inherits when it's created.
When you snap a photo with your camera, it's saved instantly in a raw file format.
Only when you upload your media to a recent device and edit it using image software is it saved using one of the image extensions described above.
