Digital images come in many formats that are each meant for different programs and use cases. It can be pretty difficult to keep track of every format and what they’re useful for! For example, if you want a high-quality image to print and hang on a wall, you should use a file format that prioritizes resolution.
In this article, we cover the most common use cases for images and what file format is best for each case.
Understanding Resolution and DPI
A digital image is essentially a bunch of small colored squares that form a picture when placed next to each other. This is actually how your monitor or phone screen works too and is sometimes also referred to as “resolution” when talking about screens and monitors.
In terms of image files, we usually think of the density of colored squares as dots per inch, or DPI. Sometimes you’ll also hear dots per inch referred to as pixels per inch, or PPI. This is just the digital version of dots per inch, as pixels are the digital equivalent of colored squares.
DPI and PPI describe the number of colored dots that are contained within one square inch of the image. The higher the DPI, or the denser the amount of colored dots within a square inch, the higher quality the image will be. However, higher dots per inch means a larger file size, which will take up more storage space on your computer or wherever you store files.
As you build images for different use cases, you’ll need different image resolutions depending on the size and detail of the use case. Here are a few recommended resolutions for common printed images:
- Business cards: 1098 x 648 resolution and 180+ DPI
- Large poster: 3200 x 4800 resolution and 300+ DPI
- Brochure: 1200 x 1800 resolution or 300+ DPI
Best File Formats for Print and Web
Now that you know a bit more about how image files work, what is the best quality image format?
This depends on your use case and how important high-quality images are for your job. Certain print images, for example, require very high resolution files to maintain quality. While certain web images may be ok at a lower resolution.
Best image format for quality printing
If you’re printing high-quality brochures, posters, or pamphlets, we recommend using a PDF to build the document. PDFs aren’t technically image file formats, but they are good at organizing and building high-quality print material without any quality loss. Additionally, PDFs can have multiple images placed within a PDF for easier organization.
Unlike other file formats, PDFs can be edited with a PDF editor. If you need to adjust the locations of images or text within your PDF, it’s far easier to do this with an editor than an image file, which will require the use of a program like Photoshop.
Document editors like Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and Google Slides can also be used to build pamphlets and brochures. You can then export the document as a PDF for easy printing.
Best quality photo format
For photos, we recommend using a PNG or JPG file format. Not only are these the most common file formats used for storing photos, but they’re also excellent for high-resolution images. There are some differences depending on your use case. If you have a logo, for example, with a transparent background, use a PNG. Let’s see more about the differences between JPGs and PNGs:
JPG
- Designed for compacting larger images into smaller file sizes (uses lossy compression)
- Easier for sharing and storing
- Usually viewable and editable on any device and with several apps
PNG
- Designed for higher quality images and larger file sizes (uses lossless compression)
- Supports transparency
- Excellent for high-detail images with more color options
For your photos, it’s best to assess your specific needs and priorities to determine whether a JPG or a PNG is better for you.
Best image type for websites
For websites, image files need to be high quality without increasing the load times of your web page. This is a tough spot to be, as you have to be careful about the file sizes of your images.
The WebP is a popular image format that’s used for web pages as it supports transparency, lossy, and lossless compression. This versatility lets you adjust, tweak, and optimize your image for your webpage. For example, you can create a logo image as a WebP with a transparent background.
It’s also fairly easy to convert your PNG and JPGs to WebP formats using a WebP encoder tool.
Best file format for sharing
If you need to share image files at work, with family, or online, the best format to use is PDF. PDFs are great for efficiently storing high-resolution images without taking up a lot of file space. Plus, you can combine several image files into a single sharable PDF.
If you’re wondering how to convert your images to a PDF, you can use a JPG to PDF converter and then merge your PDF pages into a single PDF for easy sharing. PDFs can also be compressed and optimized to further decrease their file size.
Best file format for artwork
The TIFF file format is one of the best formats for large image files that you may use for artwork. TIFF uses lossless compression, so the quality doesn’t drop as you share your image. TIFF files will hold the most information that you need for artwork with photograph-level quality.
The only downside is that TIFF files will be pretty large. This is normally ok and expected for high resolution artwork, but it is something to keep in mind!
PDFs vs. Other File Formats
See how versatile PDFs are? While they are a powerful file format, they aren’t always the best option for every use case. Let’s look at the main differences between PDFs and other file formats:
- PDFs let you store multiple images efficiently within a single file.
- PDFs are easy to compress and share without significant loss to resolution quality.
- PDFs can be converted to other file formats (and you can convert other files to PDFs!).
- PDFs are easy to store on your computer.
- Images can be placed in PDFs if you want an image to be part of your document.
- PDFs are easy to share because they are universally accessible across devices.
That said, you may want to use an image file like a TIFF or PNG if you need the highest resolution possible. If you’re printing a poster or photograph, you may be better off with another file format specifically meant for images. If you need an image with a transparent background, you will also need to use a WebP or a PNG.
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