What Exactly Are File Extensions?
What Exactly Are File Extensions?
Hey,
So you are probably
new to graphic design or digital art and lately you've been seeing all these
options of file extensions every time you try to save a file or download images
or stuff like that and you don't really understand what they are? Or perhaps you
are a client and you want to understand better what the files your graphic
designer sent to you are used for?
A long time ago when I
was just being introduced to the world of computers by my big brother, one of
the first things he explained to me was file extensions and that single lesson
helped me a lot going forward.
While some file
extensions are software specific and can only be opened by that software,
others can run across different devices and software. File extensions are
usually saved as three letters added to the end of a filename after a dot (.). For example: filename.jpg,
filename.png. Each of them have their various uses and work best in certain
situations.
JPG (or JPEG) : this is one of the most popular if not the most popular file formats
when it comes to images. It works well across platforms and devices. When you
take a picture with your phone it is usually saved as a JPEG file. You can also
export your designs to this format as well. However, it doesn't keep a
transparent background so it is not best for exporting logos and images if you
wish to have transparent backgrounds.
PNG:
this is another popular one in the graphic design game. It does almost exactly
what a JPG does but with slight differences. The most obvious difference is the
fact that it saves your image with a transparent background. In fact when you
are searching for a transparent image online you should always add the keyword
PNG.
GIF:
when I was first introduced to GIF, I learned that they are animated pictures
and that is a very good way to understand them. They also save photos with a
transparent background, as animations can also be without backgrounds. Of
course not all GIFs are animated, you can definitely save a still image as a
GIF file as well. Actually GIFs made me understand the basic secret of
animation and triggered my interest in animating. Animations are basically
combinations of pictures to create an illusion of motion. You can open a GIF in PhotoScape to understand this better, that's what I used back then too.
PDF:
you probably already know this one well. You know it as a format for text
documents and e-books but it is also very handy when it comes to graphic
design. This format saves images in such a way that they can be viewed and
edited easily using different software. For example the texts in a pdf can
still be edited when opened in a software with editing features even on mobile.
It is very wise to save your files in this format, especially logos and files
you intend to print.
SVG:
it stands for Scalable Vector Graphics and is used by vector programs to save
files in a non-destructive format which can still be edited across different
programs. I believe it also works well for web design and coding as I had a
friend of mine who is a web developer ask for the SVG of a logo I designed for
a website he was working on.
EPS: At first I avoided this file extension but it always seems to pop up
everywhere and so I had to start saving files in this format in addition to
other formats as well. While working on this post I checked some materials
online and I learned that it is great for saving vector files to be used in
different programs and for prints. External
link.
PSD:
Now this is a software specific file extension for photoshop but other software
also give the option of saving files in this format and can even run them in
most cases.
AI:
hold on this is not Artificial Intelligence but rather a file extension for
Adobe Illustrator, a vector based program.
KRA: this the file extension used by an open source digital painting
software called Krita.
#PEACE
