Best File Type for Printing: PDF, TIFF, JPEG & More Explained

The best file type for printing ensures that your document comes out of the printer looking exactly as it does on the screen. As things stand, PDF is a clear winner, but it’s still worth considering other types for their advantages and different uses.

In this article, we will cover some of the best file types for printing, the reasons they deserve their spots, and specific advice related to preparing files for printing.

Key Takeaways

• File format is important for printing because the correct one preserves quality and remains consistent with your document on the screen.
• The best file type for printing overall is PDF, because it’s consistent across many platforms and devices and supports both text and images.
• It’s important to take into account whether a file format is vector or raster, as the former is better for illustrations and logos, while the latter is excellent for colorful photographs.
• Before printing your file, convert colors to CMYK, set the resolution to 300 DPI, change text to outlines, and create proper margins.

Why File Format Matters for Printing

File format matters for printing because the quality of the final product may differ significantly depending on the one you choose. For instance, some formats may look amazing on screen, but result in a messy, unreadable print that’s not even close to what you were expecting.

More specifically, file formats affect the following factors:

• Print quality and resolution. Certain formats result in higher-quality printing, so they are more commonly used, especially in marketing and publishing. However, there are differences even among the high-quality formats; some are better suited for large-scale prints, like billboards, while others perform better on smaller, but more detailed designs.
• Color accuracy. Printing generally requires using the CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, black) color model, which ensures color consistency between the digital and printed versions. Thus, file formats that only support the RGB (red, green, blue) model shouldn’t be used, as the printed colors often don’t match the original ones.
• File size and transfer. Some formats ensure high quality, but they are so large that they are used almost exclusively by professionals whose devices can support them. They are also too big to transfer and, therefore, very inconvenient in the printing process. It’s better to choose smaller formats that are more accessible.

Ultimately, file formats are very important when you want your final product to look professional and aesthetically pleasing. That’s why this topic often comes up among designers, photographers, marketing experts, and publishers.

Best File Types for Printing By Use Case

To figure out what the best file types for printing are, it’s best to consider each on a case-by-case basis. For instance, some may be better for printing images, while others are more suitable for text files.

After examining each, we’ve come up with these three categories and their winners:

Best Overall File Type for Printing Documents

The best format for printing documents overall is PDF, which stands for Portable Document Format. Its greatest strength is its consistency and ability to preserve formatting and layout across various platforms and devices.

In other words, text and images saved in the PDF format preserve layout and formatting across devices, making printed results highly consistent, though final color output may still vary depending on printer settings and color profiles. As a result, they are ideal for printing resumes, contracts, legal documents, and reports, as well as flyers, posters, banners, and other creative materials.

This versatility, along with the fact that they can contain high-resolution images without file size inflation, is the main reason PDF is the preferred printing format.

Best File Type for Printing Images

While PDF is excellent for printing images, too, we believe TIFF deserves this title instead. Tagged Image File Format, or TIFF for short, is designed specifically for high-resolution images and is frequently used by photographers and publishers.

This is the best image format for printing, but it has one downside: its files are very large and, therefore, difficult to share using email or similar services. They may also require specialized software even for viewing, so they’re not nearly as accessible as PDFs.

Best File Type for Professional Design & Publishing

The best file type for professional design and publishing depends on whether you’re printing images, text, or both. Ultimately, it’s impossible to choose just one, so we’ll highlight three that could be used together:

• PDF, which is, unsurprisingly, still one of the best print-ready file formats, especially for materials that contain both text and images
• TIFF, which is a staple in design and photography, commonly used for pictures in magazines and newspapers
• EPS, which is a fantastic choice for graphics, logos, and illustrations, and is well-suited for marketing materials

Detailed Comparison of File Types for Printing

Now, let’s examine the most commonly used file types for printing and see how they stack up against each other:

#1. PDF

PDF is a universal file format that supports various types of content, so it’s used for all sorts of purposes and by many different professionals. It’s specifically designed for sharing, viewing, and printing, so it’s hardly surprising that it tops our list of the best file types for printing.

Now, let’s take a look at some specific advantages of PDF for printing:

• Consistency in formatting and layout across platforms and devices
• Universality, as practically all printers accept PDF files
• High quality, so the prints rarely come out blurry or low-resolution
• Security, as they can be encrypted and protected with passwords

On the other hand, PDFs have one major disadvantage: difficulty editing without specialized tools, like the ones available in our editor

#2. DOCX

DOCX is a file format used by Microsoft Word documents, so it supports text, images, tables, and more. It’s also quite popular, especially for text-based files that need to be quickly edited.

Here are some pros of using DOCX files:

• Editability, so it’s easy to fix mistakes right before printing
• Familiarity, as most people know how to open and edit Word documents
• Accessibility, since Microsoft Word is a staple on most computers

And these are some potential disadvantages:

• Inconsistency in layout and formatting across different platforms and devices
• Issues with complex documents that likely won’t appear as they should in print
• Dependence on specific software, that is, Microsoft Word

#3. JPEG

JPEG, which stands for Joint Photographic Experts Group, is the most commonly used file format for digital images, particularly photographs that need to be stored and shared. Here’s what makes this file type one of the best for printing:

• Universal compatibility, as it is supported by almost all printers, image software, and editing tools
• Small files that can be easily shared
• Adjustable quality, which allows better control over the image resolution

However, JPEG also has its downsides:

• Lower quality due to compression and repeated saving
• No transparency support, which is crucial for certain types of printing
• Possible pixelation if an image is printed in a large format

#4. PNG

PNG, which is short for Portable Network Graphics, is another popular image file format, often encountered in web graphics, illustrations, and logos. Though it may seem similar to JPEG, the two differ significantly.

This is best illustrated through the following PNG advantages:

• Transparency support, which is crucial for logos, text, and images printed on clothes
• Lossless compression, so the images remain sharp, and there’s no pixelation
• High quality, especially in detailed images and illustrations with sharp lines

However, PNG isn’t without its disadvantages:

• No CMYK support, meaning that the colors in print may turn out different from those on the original image
• Not ideal for photos, which look better in JPEG and TIFF formats

#5. TIFF

TIFF is less well-known than JPEG or PNG among laymen, but it’s very popular among professionals who edit and print images for a living. As we’ve said before, it’s the best file type for printing images, and these are the reasons:

• High-quality images used in publishing and professional photography
• No compression or lossless compression, which retains the highest possible image quality
• Detailed results, especially in terms of color

Of course, TIFF still has a few disadvantages:

• Large file sizes that take up significant storage space and can’t be shared easily
• Compatibility issues if you don’t have specialized editing software

#6. EPS

EPS, or Encapsulated PostScript, is another image file format used in professional settings, such as publishing and marketing.

Here are a few pros of using EPS:

• Scalability, as these files can be easily resized without pixelation or loss of image quality
• High-quality results, especially for logos and illustrations
• Color accuracy that results in more detailed and precise prints

On the other hand, these are the cons:

• Editing difficulty, typically edited using professional vector design software such as Adobe Illustrator or similar tools
• No transparency support, which limits its versatility

Now, here’s an overview of all the file types we’ve mentioned, along with their pros and cons:

Vector vs. Raster File Types for Printing

All the abovementioned image file formats belong to these two categories: vector or raster. These two represent ways in which images are constructed that affect how they look, how detailed they are, and where they are used.

First, let’s take a look at raster files. Though the name may sound unfamiliar, you actually encounter them daily in JPEGs, PNGs, and GIFs. These files are made up of tiny pixels, whose number determines the quality of the image. Essentially, the more pixels, the better the quality.

However, raster files have one big downside: they don’t react well to scaling. A raster image blurs when you zoom in or enlarge it too much, and is, therefore, not ideal for billboards or other large formats of the sort.

On the other hand, vector images have no such issues, since they aren’t composed of pixels. Instead, the file uses mathematical formulas to capture shape, borders, and color, so it can easily be scaled to any size with no impact on its quality.

Keeping that in mind, it may appear that vector images are a superior choice for printing. However, raster images display a greater range of color, shading, and light, so they are still better for certain purposes.

Now, here’s a quick overview of vector vs. raster printing formats:

How to Convert Files for Printing

How you convert files for printing depends on the program you used to edit and prepare them. However, here’s some general advice that can apply to all kinds of files and software:

• Double-check your work. Make sure that all fonts are correct, all images are in place, and the layout is exactly as it should be. Run your text through a grammar checker if need be; it will be much more of a hassle to make corrections later.
• Flatten layers in Photoshop. If you’ve been working on a design in Photoshop, you should flatten layers to avoid errors and reduce the size of your image.
• Convert to PDF. In most cases, converting to PDF is your best option for successful printing. You can do that in several ways; some programs have native “Save as PDF” functions, while in other cases, you need to resort to other tools, such as our online converter.
• Use TIFF or PNG for image-heavy files. If you’re only printing photos or designs, you can also save your files as one of the image file formats. This is optional, though, as PDF supports images, too.

4 Tips for Making Any File Print-Ready

Now that you are well-versed in file formats and know what the best file type for printing is, we’ll give you some simple tips to prepare you for printing:

• Convert colors to CMYK. Some file types support only the RGB color model, and we advise you to avoid them when printing, as a general rule. Instead, use file types that only allow CMYK or those that can support both, like PDF. That way, you’ll ensure that the printed colors match the ones in your original file.
• Set resolution to 300 DPI. All images and graphics should be set to 300 DPI resolution to make sure that the prints don’t turn out blurry or pixelated. This is less important for vector images, as they aren’t made up of pixels.
• Convert text to outlines. If your printer doesn’t have the font used in the document you want to print, the end result may not turn out the way you expect it. For instance, custom fonts may be replaced by default ones, which could affect the overall design. Luckily, you can avoid this by converting text to outlines, which ensures everything is correctly printed.
• Create proper margins. All text and images should be kept inside a 0.25 inch margin to ensure nothing gets cut off during printing. A 0.125 margin is also acceptable, but that is the minimum. However, some margins may vary depending on the printer and document type.

Prepare Your PDF File for Printing With pdf.net

Before you print your PDF file, you may need to make some final changes and ensure it looks the best it can. Our online editor can help you with that; upload your document and edit the text, add images, merge, split, or compress. Try our different functions until you get the desired result.

Also, if you want to convert a different file format to PDF, pdf.net is the right place for that. The entire process won’t last five minutes, and then you’ll be ready for printing!

Final Thoughts

Now that you know what the best file type for printing is, you won’t experience unpleasant surprises when your document comes out of the printer. Stick to the recommended type and follow our advice in terms of colors, resolution, and margins. That way, you’ll surely get the desired results!

Best File Type for Printing FAQs

#1. Is a PNG or a JPEG better for printing?

PNG is better than JPEG for certain types of printing because of its lossless compression, transparency support, and the ability to preserve sharpness and high quality. However, it doesn’t support CMYK, so it’s not ideal for printing photographs and images where colors are crucial.

#2. Is PDF better than Word for printing?

PDF is better than DOCX for printing because it ensures that the text and images remain exactly as they are in the file. This isn’t the case with Word files, which are notorious for being inconsistent when printed or across different devices.

#3. What image format prints the best quality?

TIFF image format prints the best quality, so it’s often used in professional photography and publishing. However, its use is limited by its size and inaccessibility; typically, you need specialized software to open it.

#4. What file format do professional printers prefer?

Professional printers prefer high-resolution file formats for print, which are also accessible and consistent. In other words, PDF is usually the preferred format, despite the potential difficulties with editing. Aside from PDF, they frequently rely on TIFF and EPS for images and graphics.