Every common file format, explained

A no-nonsense reference. Each entry links to the free Toolsii tool that handles it.

Documents

PDF

Portable Document Format — universal print/read format. Use for anything that must look identical everywhere.

DOCX

Modern Word format. Editable, keeps styles. Convert to PDF for sharing.

EPUB / MOBI

E-book formats. EPUB is the open standard; MOBI/AZW3 are Amazon Kindle.

JPG / JPEG

Lossy photo format. Best for photographs, worst for text/UI.

PNG

Lossless with transparency. Best for logos, UI, screenshots.

WebP

Google's modern format. ~30% smaller than JPG at same quality.

AVIF

Newest format. ~50% smaller than JPG, slower to encode.

HEIC

Apple's iPhone default. Small but poor Windows/Web support — convert first.

SVG

Vector graphics as XML. Infinitely scalable.

RAW (CR2/NEF/ARW)

Camera sensor dumps. Huge, need conversion for the web.

ZIP

Universal archive. Every OS opens it natively.

RAR / 7z / TAR.GZ

Alternative archives — better compression, less native support.

TTF / OTF → WOFF2

Web font format. ~30% smaller than TTF for the same glyphs.