File formats
Every format we know: what it is, what it is for, what you lose converting it.
● read & write · ◐ read only · ○ write only · - coming
🖼️ Images
● JPGThe universal photo format. Lossy, no transparency, opens everywhere.● PNGLossless with transparency. The safe default for screenshots, logos and UI.● WebPSmaller than JPG and PNG, keeps transparency and animation. Supported by every current browser.● AVIFThe best compression available today, with HDR and transparency. Slower to encode.● JPEG XLCan recompress a JPG losslessly and shrink it by ~20%. Excellent quality, limited browser support.● GIF256 colours and animation. Plays absolutely everywhere, including where video cannot.● BMPUncompressed Windows bitmap. Huge files, trivially simple.- TIFFLossless, multi-page, the standard for print and scanning.◐ HEICWhat iPhones shoot. Half the size of JPG at the same quality, but Windows and the web struggle with it.● ICOWindows icon and favicon container, several sizes in one file.◐ SVGVector graphics as text. Infinitely scalable, editable, tiny for logos and icons.◐ PSDPhotoshop's native file, with layers, masks and adjustments intact.◐ TGASimple raster with alpha, still common in game engines and 3D tools.- DNGAdobe's open RAW container. The sensor data, untouched.- CR2Canon RAW (2004–2018 bodies).- CR3Canon RAW (2018 onwards).- NEFNikon RAW.- ARWSony RAW.- RAFFujifilm RAW.
🎬 Video
● MP4H.264 video and AAC audio. Plays on absolutely everything.● MOVApple's QuickTime container. What iPhones and Macs record by default.● WebMOpen VP9/Opus format built for the web. Smaller than MP4 at equal quality.● MKVHolds any codec, any number of audio and subtitle tracks. Ideal for archiving.● AVIThe classic Windows container. Large files, universally readable.◐ WMVWindows Media Video.◐ FLVFlash video. Obsolete, but still found in old archives.◐ MPGMPEG-1/2 program stream, as on DVD and VCD.◐ 3GPCompact mobile format for older handsets.◐ TSBroadcast and camcorder stream format.◐ OGVOgg Theora, fully patent-free.
🎧 Audio
● MP3The universal lossy audio format.● WAVUncompressed PCM. Lossless, large, editable everywhere.● FLACLossless compression, about half the size of WAV.● M4AAAC audio in an MP4 container. Apple's default; better than MP3 at the same bitrate.● OGGFree and open lossy audio.● OpusThe best quality per kilobyte, especially for speech. What WhatsApp and Discord use.● AIFFUncompressed Apple audio, the Mac counterpart to WAV.◐ WMAWindows Media Audio.◐ AMRPhone voice-note codec.
📄 Documents
● PDFFixed layout that looks the same everywhere. The format for sending, signing and printing.- DOCXMicrosoft Word's editable document format.● TXTJust the words. No formatting, no images, opens on anything.● MarkdownPlain text with light formatting. The native language of README files and note apps.● HTMLA web page.- RTFFormatted text every word processor can open.
📊 Data
● CSVA table as plain text. Every spreadsheet and database speaks it.● TSVCSV with tabs. Safer when your data contains commas.● XLSXExcel's workbook: several sheets, formulas, formatting.● XLSThe old binary Excel format.● ODSLibreOffice's spreadsheet format.● JSONThe data format of the web and every API.● NDJSONOne JSON object per line. Streams and appends cleanly.● YAMLHuman-friendly configuration. Indentation instead of braces.● XMLVerbose, strict, everywhere in enterprise software.● TOMLMinimal configuration format. Rust, Python and Cloudflare use it.
🗜️ Archives
● ZIPThe archive everyone can open without installing anything.● 7ZBetter compression than ZIP. Needs 7-Zip or similar to open.◐ RARProprietary archive, common on download sites. Free to read, not to create.● TARUnix bundle of files, uncompressed on its own.● GZGzip compression, usually wrapping a TAR.