Alex is a passionate graphic designer from Texas. She grew up captivated by the world of color, typography, and print design.
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Images are like puzzle pieces, each with its own unique shape and size. When deciding a preferred format, there are many considerations. Do you need a transparent background? Do you need to a smaller file size? Are you working with complex images? There is a lot to consider.
Here are some of the most popular image file types:
One of the key factors when choosing the ideal file format for your graphic, image, or design is the balance between image quality and file size.
Let’s break down these formats and figure out which one will work best for your project!
The good news? When you craft projects in Shutterstock’s design tool Create, you have all the formats we will discuss in this article available with just one click.
JPG or JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) is one of the most popular image formats. It’s a lossy format, meaning that some of the data from the original image is lost during compression.
Pronounced “jay-peg,” JPGs are designed to minimize the file size of photographs to make them more suitable for sharing and using in web design. Most of the photos you find online are likely in JPG format. JPEGs are generally an ideal format for sharing your digital photography and other non-vector based image files.
There are many advantages to using a JPG format over a PNG format (or PDF/TIFF) that might make it the perfect format for the image you are planning to share with the world. Let’s break them down.
JPG/JPEGs are incredibly popular because they offer a variety of advantages. First, this format is best for photos that have intricate details and subtle color variations, as the lossy compression ensures that these details remain intact.
JPGs also take up less space than other formats, which make them ideal for attaching to emails or uploading to websites. This is the huge advantage of JPG images. If you’re designing a website, for example, utilizing JPG images will get you faster page load times and provide a better user experience because the files are smaller.
When you first save a JPEG file, the rate of compression is about 10:1. So, if you have a 20MB (megabyte) image that is then saved as a JPEG, you can expect the file to be 2MB in size.
Since JPG images are a common file type, they’re easily shareable and viewable online. This eliminates the need for any program required to view the image file.
While JPGs are one of the most common image formats out there, and work well for exporting many different kinds of images, they do have some limitations and key factors that might not make them the right format for the image you are exporting.
The main advantage of JPG images—smaller file size—also happens to be their weakness. The algorithm that compresses JPG images finds pixels that are essentially the same color or value, and blocks them together into tiles. This creates a smaller file, but it also means you lose some of the data in the image, resulting is lower quality. Unfortunately, you lose that data forever when the file is saved, so you can’t restore a JPG to its original quality.
There are formats that have “lossless compression” and might be a better choice if you are sending your project to print, for example.
Due to JPEGs’ ability to compress files to make their size smaller, this means that JPGs are most suitable for viewing online rather than printing.
Instead of exporting as a JPEG, export your images or designs for print as a PDF or another lossless compression format.
A more recent file extension—JPG-Large—is simply a larger version of the JPG file. While not commonly used, JPG-Large files are sometimes seen when uploading images to social media platforms, such as Facebook or Twitter.
In an attempt to resize the uploaded image to the correct dimensions on the platform, the file may change to JPG-Large instead.
If you’ve encountered a JPG-Large file and are unable to open it, simply rename the file to .jpg or .jpeg over the .jpg-large extension.
PNG is an acronym for Portable Network Graphics. This image format is indeed optimized for graphics like graphs, logos, and text. However, you can just as easily save a photograph as a PNG.
PNGs are often higher quality than a JPG. This is because PNG files weren’t intended to reduce file size, so they retain more image details, color details, and transparency data.
PNGs are ideal for saving logos or images with a limited color palette.
Much like JPG files, PNG files are widely viewable and shareable across many platforms and programs. When searching for an icon on a web browser, you’ll likely find a .png file version of that icon.
The compression used when creating a PNG results in lower loss of quality. A PNG’s file compression results in more detailed images with larger file sizes. They are closer to their original image quality than JPGs.
Another way to say this is that PNGs have a lower compression ratio. PNGs retain their sharp lines and crispness. This is directly at odds with a JPG file, which will further compress and lose information every time it’s edited or re-saved.
In short, PNGs do better with detailed, high-contrast images where the larger image file size is no issue.
One of the biggest advantages of PNG files is their ability to showcase transparency, making this file extension ideal for icons, logos, and smaller graphics that have transparent design elements and backgrounds.
The gray checkered background you often see in PNG images in your image editor or when you are searching on the web (before downloading them) indicates the transparency of that file.
Because of this feature, PNGs are one of the most ideal formats to use for transparent images or graphics with a transparent element.
One of the reasons why JPG images are widely used on the web is the friendly file size. PNG images undergo a different type of image compression that reduces the file size, but not to the same degree as a JPG file.
These files have a lower image compression ratio. This can result in longer loading times, so you’ll want to be careful when exporting a .png file for a website—watch the file size closely.
If you’re concerned about load time for your website, you don’t want an image on your page with a file size larger than 500 KB, especially a page with lots of images.
PNGs, unlike JPGs, are not ideal for printing due to the fact that they possess a much larger file size. This can lead to more costs from printers and longer wait times for printed materials.
Additionally, PNGs have a lower image compression ratio, which can result in loss of detail or color information when attempting to print an image or graphic. Therefore, if you need to print an image or graphic, exporting as a PDF or another lossless format is recommended.
License this image via paseven.
PDF files aren’t typically discussed when weighing options for image files, but you may need to convert PDF files to and from PNG or JPG formats.
PDF (Portable Document Format) is the industry standard for document sharing, as it creates an exact replica of any file you want to duplicate, including images.
While you wouldn’t want to use a PDF image to upload online or in official brand design, they’re useful for emailing and storing screenshots and other images combined with text documents or photographs.
PDF files look identical to the original design or photograph, serving as a copy of your image. PDF files are ideal for file sharing, and carry the assurance that your graph, photo, or document will display correctly across devices without being altered.
Also, PDFs will retain a larger range of colors than the more highly compressed JPG format.
PDF images are extremely customizable, allowing you to export images and documents, and optimize them for printing and sharing. The superb quality is ideal for designs and documents that will ultimately be printed as opposed to living online, like print brochures.
When preparing a design for print production, saving as a PDF enables the design to remain high-quality and print at various sizes. Your photos will retain their original image size and quality.
In addition, PDF files are an ideal choice when creating interactive documents that require any form inputs or button clicks. Programs such as Adobe InDesign allow for exporting designs into an interactive PDF file.
While PDF files evoke many advantages, they’re best utilized when exporting high-quality images and documents, and not logos or icons.
Instead of using the .pdf file extension, stick to .png or .jpg when exporting a logo or icon.
Since PDF files are flat, they do not contain the ability to edit (with the big exception of a Photoshop PDF, which can be saved with editable layers.)
Reserve exporting your design to a PDF when you’re sharing the design for feedback, using a document for print or interactive purposes, or getting ready to print an editorial design.
TIFF files, much like PNGs, are a lossless raster file format. Short for “Tagged Image File Format,” TIFF files are known for being high-quality and used mostly in photography. They are ideal for photos shot in RAW formats that have had intricate color correction and ensure the file when viewing or printing will be pixel perfect!
In addition to being high-quality, TIFF files are on the larger end of the file size spectrum, so use them sparingly and definitely don’t use them on a website.
While they aren’t a popular file extension, they’re often used with professional photography, desktop publishing, and scanning artwork and documents. Anything where you’ll be printing a larger image size or need to view all the details of an image.
If you’ve ever needed to get a crisp version of an image or print a high-quality photograph, then TIFF file formats are your go-to.
Made to preserve its quality, TIFF offers the ability to use tags, layers, and even transparency, if needed. TIFF files—while not used as widely as PNG, JPG, or PDF—are compatible with Adobe Photoshop.
Due to the compression of TIFF files and their large image quality, this file extension isn’t suitable for web and online-only use. Stick to exporting your files as a .tif if you’re planning to print the image or are using a high-quality scanner.
Still undecided on what’s the best image format between the popular formats?
Let’s look at what file is most practical for your needs:
| JPG | PNG | TIFF | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best for posting photos and images online | Best for icons and logos due to transparency features | Best for interactive and print documents | Best for exporting and scanning photographs |
| Smaller file sizes but can impact quality | Smaller file sizes but only for limited color palettes | Quality is retained, keeping decent file sizes | Large file sizes not ideal for web |
The good news? If you need multiple versions, you can download as a JPG, PNG, and PDF in three separate clicks with Shutterstock’s design tool Create. Why select one when you can have them all?
Plus, your work is always saved in our cloud storage, so don’t worry about saving it in a particular file format, as you can change that anytime.
Once you select your preferred file format, Create will automatically convert your design. The drop-down menu will also offer resolution options. We opt for high-quality, but do whatever works for your project.
The most predominant file formats (as mentioned) are JPG, PNG, and PDF and they’re all available in Create. Whatever you need, simply download your creation in your chosen format—and voilà!
If you’re submitting a resume, photography project, or compiling a portfolio for someone, check in with them to see their file format needs, then hop into Create to craft accordingly.
Yes, it really is that easy. No more learning how to create a PDF file (unless you want to!), but you don’t have to worry about that in Create.
Even if you upload a PNG image into your design in Create, you can still download the new product as a JPEG. Neat, eh?
A PDF (Portable Document Format) is a document file type that can include images within the text.
PNGs (Portable Network Graphics) offer lossless compression, while JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) files do not.
Basically, PNGs—when compressed—do not lose any of their image data.
PNG files support millions of colors and varying degrees of transparency whereas JPEG files do not, hence resulting in lower quality saved images and files.
PNGs also offer better readability than a JPEG or GIF.
PNG files are good for logos, charts, web graphics, and illustrations.
They have lossless compression and a much broader and brighter color palette, resulting in higher quality images.
If you want the smallest file size possible (while also maximizing your space) then you would want to go with JPG images because JPEGs are compressed to save space.
PNG files are generally higher in quality than JPEGs because they are not compressed.
PNG files can only compress 10-30% of the image’s original size, whereas JPEGs can compress 5-10% of the image’s original size.
JPEGs store high-quality digital photos efficiently by compressing large images into much smaller file sizes.
Smaller file sizes make them easier to share and upload online, but the quality of the image is often impacted due to the lossy compression.
Unlike PNG file formats, JPEG file formats do not support transparency.
Lossy compression deletes data from the image being saved to make the file size smaller. The more you save the image, the more data you lose.
Lossless compression is a type of data compression that reduces file size without losing information.
License this cover image via Damir Khabirov.
