- .PDF (Preferred for most files)
PDF (short for Portable Document Format) is a file format developed by Adobe as a means of distributing compact, platform-independent documents. PDF captures formatting information from a variety of desktop publishing applications, making it possible to send formatted documents and have them appear on the recipient’s monitor or printer as they were intended.
- .EPS (Preferred for large signs and banners)
EPS (Encapsulated PostScript) is a vector format intended for use with PostScript printers and imagesetters. It is widely regarded as the best graphics format for high-resolution printing of illustrations. Illustration programmes such as Adobe Illustrator or CorelDRAW are used to create and edit EPS files.
Vector graphics are a resolution-independent, scalable format made up of individual objects or shapes. Vector images can be easily resized without sacrificing quality, making them an ideal format for initial logo designs and illustrations that will be used in a variety of sizes.
- JPG (Preferred for images)
JPG (short for Joint Photographic Experts Group and pronounced jay-peg) is a file format that is best used for photo images that need to be very small files, such as for web sites or email. JPG employs lossy compression (lossy meaning “with losses to quality”). When JPG data is compressed and saved, some image quality is lost, and this quality can never be recovered.
Most other file compression methods are lossless, which means “fully recoverable.” However, this integrity requirement limits efficiency, limiting photo image data compression to only a 10% to 40% reduction in practise (graphics can be smaller).
- .TIFF (Preferred for high resolution images)
TIFF (Tagged Image File Format) is an industry standard for dealing with raster or bitmapped images. TIFF files can be saved in a variety of colour formats and compression levels. TIFFs are commonly used for professional photography because they use lossless compression to maintain image integrity and clarity.
- .GIF and .PNG
GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) is a file format used to store graphical images with up to 256 colours. It employs a lossless compression method, resulting in higher quality output. PNG (Portable Network Graphics) was developed as a more powerful replacement for the GIF file format. PNG files are not limited to 256 colours like GIF files and have better compression. A PNG file with a transparent background can be saved, allowing you to place your image on top of another without an outlining white box.
GIF files are probably the most common on the web, where they are used in logos and colour images. Despite the fact that PNG files are widely supported, GIF remains the most popular.
- .ZIP
ZIP is a data archiving and compression file format. A ZIP file is a collection of one or more files that have been compressed and bundled in order to reduce file size and facilitate file transfers. ZIP files can be created by right-clicking on a file or folder and choosing “Compress” (Mac) or “Send To > Compressed/Zipped Folder” (Windows) (PC). When a ZIP file is received (for example, via email), it must be “unzipped” or de-compressed before the files can be accessed.
Other Formats
While we prefer one of the above formats when submitting files, we do accept native files for the following software programs:
- Microsoft Word 2013 or earlier
- Microsoft Publisher 2013 or earlier
- Microsoft Excel 2013 or earlier
- Microsoft PowerPoint 2013 or earlier
- Adobe InDesign CC 2015 or earlier
- Adobe Illustrator CC 2015 or earlier
- Adobe Photoshop CC 2015 or earlier
- Adobe Acrobat 11
- Quark Xpress 9 or earlier
