JPEG, PNG, PDF… What’s the difference?

So, you’ve just created your masterpiece in Over and now you want to export it. But in which format?

Knowing the basics about image file formats is super helpful for getting the most out of your designs.

Here’s everything you need to know (in a jiffy)…

- Designing something for the web? Use JPEG.

- Need a transparent logo or icon? Use PNG.

- Printing your design? Use PDF.  

And here’s everything you need to know (in a jiffy-ish)…

Let’s start with PNG's

PNG’s can be partly transparent. Sounds strange for an image, right? It makes sense when you have a stand-alone web graphic, like an icon or a logo, and you want to layer this onto another asset.  When you export your image as a PNG file, the space around your graphic will remain transparent so that you can place it seamlessly into a sales ad or email signature, for example.

What about JPEG’s?

These bad boys are ideal for the web. Social content, email, blog or banner; if it’s going online then it’s a safe bet to save it as a JPEG. The reason being that these files can be compressed to a small size for a quick share or download. Some of the image quality may get lost in the compression, but for web images this is usually okay.  

And then we have PDF’s

These are for when you’re ready to print. Most printers will ask for you to send your design as a PDF file as it is a universal standard. This is because PDF’s are the safest bet for keeping all your design components intact and avoiding any unwelcome surprises when transposing your design from a digital file to a tangible object.

And that’s it! There are more image file formats out there, but for the best of us who create and share awesome designs with Over, the above is all we need to know.

Good News: We recently released a new ‘Export Preview’ feature so now you can view your image in a specific format to make sure that it is right before exporting.