File Formats
There are many different types of graphic file formats on the market today. More often than not, many of these formats are interchangeable and can be used for exactly the same thing. Here at Clifton's Creative Design we try to supply you with a variety of file formats that should cover most situations you should encounter.
If there is a specific file format that you are in need of, please let us know at the time of your order and we will do everything possible to make sure you are supplied with that file format. There are certain circumstances though that might prevent us from supplying a certain file format, but every effort will be made to assist you. Below are some of the most common file formats associated with graphic design. Please note that not all formats are appropriate for all designs:
JPG: (RGB Color)
This is the most common file type for pictures and images. This file type is used for home/office printing in a variety of common applications like Word, Power Point, other Office Applications, or for web site images. You are usually supplied with three JPG file sizes: small, medium and large. The sizes that your are supplied with are usually sufficient for most tasks that you need to do personally or professionally. If you need a specific size or different size from those that your are supplied with please let us know.
Perfect for:
Home/Office Printing
Web Design
Importing into Microsoft Office Applications
Most Personal and/or Professional Needs
TIFF: (CMYK Color)
This is the most common image file type that is used in Professional Printing on printing presses. CMYK stands for the four colors that are used in "Process Printing": Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and the K stands for Black. If you usually get your files printed off at the local copy shop down the street you may not need this file type, but if your files are printed professionally on presses this is a must have file type.
You should be able to open this file on you computer, but will notice that the colors are totally different to the other files you are supplied with. Try comparing the TIFF and a JPG of the same file - they are like night and day. This is because your computer monitor uses RGB color. RGB stands for Red, Green, Blue. Your PC does not have the correct filters to read CMYK color. This is entirely normal and when printed on a printing press the colors will print correct.
Even though your printer at your home or office most likely uses CMYK it is most likely preferable that you use the JPG version of your file.
Perfect for:
Professional Printing
PSD: (RGB)
This is the file format used for Adobe Photoshop. It is used for a variety of needs by professional designers. You will need Adobe Photoshop or Adobe Photoshop Elements to open this file type.
Perfect for:
Home/Office Printing
Web Design
Graphic Design
PDF:
PDF is the global standard for electronic document sharing. Anyone in the world can access and share PDF files by downloading the free Adobe Reader software from Adobe's web site. One of the greatest features that makes a PDF file excellent for printing is that is compress the original document without compromising any of the graphics or text. So, the final result is a completely compatible file that is smaller, has high resolution, and can be printed anywhere.
Perfect for:
Home/Office Printing
Commercial Printing
GIF: (Index Color)
One of the major drawbacks to GIF files is that they do not resize well at all. On the other hand though, GIF files are able to have a transparent background unlike JPEG files. For us to supply you with a GIF file you need to tell us the size you need. Otherwise if you try to resize it yourself the results will generally be very poor and often suffer from pixalation or jagged edges.
Perfect for:
Web Design
PNG: (RGB Color)
PNG files are usually only used for web sites. The benefit of a PNG file over a GIF file is that the quality of finish is usually much higher. The PNG file format also resizes much better than GIF files.
Perfect for:
Web Design
