BeFunky currently supports saving in JPG, PNG, and PDF file formats.
JPG
When You Should Save as JPG
JPGs are most useful for digital photography and online image sharing, as it is a widely supported web format and allows for smaller file sizes. JPG has the ability to hold camera-specific information within an image's metadata, making it useful for real-world photography.
JPGs are 'lossy' compressed files, meaning each time you reopen and re-save a JPG you will lose trace amounts of quality. It also cannot support image transparency.
When to Avoid JPEG
- You are using text-heavy images and graphics with sharp lines, or when you plan to save numerous times throughout the editing process.
- If you have transparent elements you want to retain within your image, saving as a JPG will not allow this.
Takeaway
Keep JPG exports minimal to maintain the best possible image quality. Finding a balance of low file size and high image quality is the sweet spot of saving as a JPG.
PNG
When You Should Save as PNG
Unlike JPG files, PNG has lossless compression, so you'll have zero loss in quality even if a file has been repeatedly re-opened and saved. It also supports image transparency which makes it great for brand images, logos, text-heavy images, and screenshots.
When to Avoid PNG
- If you're saving photorealistic images, JPG should be used over PNG.
- PNG should also be avoided when you're working with images that contain important metadata relating to the camera used to capture them.
Takeaway
PNG is best for digital graphics and non-photorealistic images. You won't lose data when re-opening and re-saving, and PNG supports the use of transparency.
When You Should Save as PDF
PDF is a helpful file format for saving text-based documents or designs like resumes, menus, cover letters, brochures, or other content-heavy documents.
Our PDF saving allows for your file to be saved in Print Quality and Web Quality. Print Quality PDFs are going to be extremely large file sizes and should only be used when you are planning on printing out a document. If you're going to be using a PDF on the web, like attached to a link on a website, for example, Web Quality is recommended to reduce loading times.
Other Best Practices
- Consider saving a copy of your project as a BFD file, which will retain all your project layers for future editing.
- Understanding image resolution will help with choosing a file type. If you're planning on printing a file instead of saving it only for the web, you may want to factor that into your decision.
- Be aware of file sizes when saving. Images that will be displayed on the web display best at file sizes of 500kb to 1MB. If you're displaying many images with heavy file sizes on a single webpage, you may see performance issues.