Every File Type You Need to Know About for Digital Organizing

It is important to have some basic knowledge about different digital file formats even if you aren’t that interested in the technical side of stuff. If you want to be more efficient when you are dealing with computer files, you should know which type is best for the the task or project that you are currently working on..

Becoming familiar with file types is especially useful if you are planning to go paperless because you don’t want to save your documents as photos or vice versa. And you certainly don’t want to send an editable file to someone if you only want the recipient to have a finished document.

Here is a summary to make it a little easier for you.

Main Categories of File Types

There are literally thousands of file types out there – but for personal purposes, the things that we use the most are:

• documents,
• photographs,
• video, and
• music.

Common File Formats for Documents

There are 2 main ways that we deal with documents on our devices. We either create them, meaning that we write or author them. Or we read them, meaning that we read a document that was authored by someone else, or by us in the past.

Documents That You Write

Typically, a document that you write would be written using some type of word processing application. It could be Microsoft Word, Google Docs, Apple Pages, or a notes app. Often these are saved as with a .doc or .docx extension at the end of the file name, but not always. However, most programs allow you to export your file in a variety of formats.

Documents That You Scan

On the other hand, when you scan a piece of paper, you will typically want it to be stored as a PDF file type. This stands for Portable Document Format. When a document is stored as a PDF it keeps the formatting of the original document.

This has two advantages:

1. The recipient does not need to have access to the software that was used to create the original document.
2. The recipient cannot easily change the document.

For example, let’s say you create a document in Microsoft Word, then save it as a PDF, and then send it to me. I won’t need to have the Microsoft Word program or any other word processor installed on my computer to read it.

Mac users can open a PDF file in Preview and Windows users will probably use some form of Adobe Acrobat (I don’t do Windows, so feel free to correct me in the comments).

When I open the PDF file in Preview – I will not be able to change things easily. I can annotate the document by adding notes and highlights etc. – but I won’t be able to delete things or reword things without it looking like the document was altered.

Why Sending .doc Files to Others is Not a Good Idea

Have you ever received a newsletter from school or a resumé or some other document as a .doc file type? I hate it when this happens.

First, it takes some time for my Word program to fire up. Once the document is open, actually reading it is tedious in a word processor. And, if you scroll or click somewhere in the document – you risk altering the original by mistake.

If you are guilty of sending documents like this, take a minute or two to convert your document to PDF before you send it out.

Second, you are giving people the ability to change the original document – which is not necessarily what you want them to do.

Other Common Document File Types You Will Run Into

Beyond .PDF and DOC, there are a handful of other document formats worth knowing about:

• .DOCX – This is the modern version of the Word document format. It is a little more efficient and reliable than the older .doc, but it has the exact same drawback: anyone who opens it can edit it, and they need Word (or a compatible program) to view it properly.
• .TXT – This is a plain text file with zero formatting. No bold, no fonts, no images. It’s the simplest, smallest, and most universally readable file type there is, which makes it great for notes you just want to jot down and reopen anywhere. On Mac, the TextEdit app will save files natively in this format. I often use this app to jot down a quick thought or document some quick research.
• .RTF (Rich Text Format) – This file type is a step up from .txt. It keeps basic formatting like bold and italics, and almost every word processor can open it. TextEdit on Mac can also create this file type.
• .CSV – CSV is short for Comma-Separated Values and is a common, simple, and universal format for spreadsheet data. You will come across this when you export data from banks, budgeting apps, contact lists, etc. The great thing about this is that you can use it across different spreadsheet apps, like Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets.
• .XLS or .XLSX – Spreadsheet files created in Excel or similar programs are saved in this file format. Like Word files, they’re fully editable, so you would not send this to another person unless you want them to collaborate or be able to change the data.

File Formats for Photographs

Their are many file types that you can use to store digital images, and unlike document formats, the right choice really depends on what you plan to do with the photo.

Here’s a closer look at the most common ones and how they are different from each other. There is also a good discussion of the different types here on Wikipedia.

JPG and JPEG Files

Confusingly, these are actually the same format. JPG is just the shortened version of the file extension and basically a holdover from older systems that could only handle three-letter extensions.

JPG files are what is known as lossy, which means that every time you save the file, you lose a small amount of image data in exchange for a smaller file size. This is the default format for photos taken on some smartphones or scanned at home, and it’s the one I use most often when scanning printed photographs.

This format is best for everyday photos, scanned pictures, files you upload to websites or blogs, pictures you email, or anything where file size matters more than pixel-perfect quality.

PNG Files

PNG files are lossless, meaning that no image data is lost when the file is saved This keeps the quality of the photo higher but it also makes the files bigger than JPGs.

PNG files also support transparency, which JPG files do not. This is why logos, graphics, and screenshots are usually saved as PNGs instead of JPGs.

PNG files are best for screenshots, graphics with transparent backgrounds, logos, and anything with sharp lines or text.

TIFF Files

TIFF files are large, high-quality, uncompressed (or minimally compressed) image files. They are the standard in professional photography and printing because they preserve every bit of detail.

TIFF files are best for archival scans, professional printing, and any situation where quality matters more than file size or convenience.

RAW Files

RAW files aren’t really a single format. They are a category of proprietary formats that capture unprocessed data directly from a camera’s sensor. Think of a RAW file as a digital negative, it hasn’t been compressed or “developed” yet, so it gives photographers the most flexibility to edit exposure, color, and detail after the fact.

RAW files are best for professional or serious hobbyist photography where you plan to edit the image afterward. RAW files are not practical for everyday scanning or sharing because the file size is absolutely huge and takes up a lot of memory.

HEIC Files

If you use an iPhone, you may have noticed that your images have carried the HEIC extension over the past few years. This is Apple’s modern photo format, and it’s likely what your iPhone is saving your photos as right now unless you changed the setting. This format manages to achieve a quality that is similar to a PNG file but at roughly half the file size of a JPG, which is great for saving storage space.

The catch is compatibility. Some older programs and Windows computers don’t always open HEIC files, which is why you’ll sometimes need to convert them to JPG before sharing.

HEIC files are best for everyday iPhone photography, as long as you’re aware of potential compatibility issues when sharing outside the Apple ecosystem.

WEBP Files

WEBP is a newer format developed by Google that’s mostly used on websites. It offers a good balance of small file size and solid quality, which helps web pages load faster. But if you try to save an image from a website, then it saves with this extension which will not open for me in Finder on a Mac. I first have to covert it into a JPG file in order to open.

This file type is best for website images. It’s less common for personal photo storage or scanning.

More File Types for Everyday Use

In addition to the above here are some additional file types that you will come across most often in daily life, outside of scanning documents and photos:

• .MP3 – The standard format for audio files like music and podcasts,
• .MP4 – The most common video file format,
• .ZIP – A compressed folder that bundles multiple files together into one smaller file,
• .HTML – The file format behind web pages.

Knowing Your File Formats is Important for Digital Organization

When you begin the process of digital organizing you will be scanning and working with a lot of different files online. Becoming familiar with the different file types will improve your personal productivity, because you will know at a glance what app to use to use when you work with each particular file. You will also know what format you want to store your files in as part of your workflow.

You don’t want to mistakenly store, let’s say a bank statement, as a JPG file type. JPG files are for photos, and are not multi-page type files. So each page of your bank statement would then become a different file. You also may face a security issue if you automatically upload jpg file types to a photo sharing service or Apple Photos. Ideally, if you scan in a PDF format all of the pages could be stored as one document.

Just as an aside, as you start the process of cleaning up your computer and creating digital files to eliminate the paper in your home office, this little trick for renaming your files in bulk on a Mac, can save you a ton of time.

A Quick Digital File Format Cheat Sheet

Keeping it simple – this is a general rule of thumb for digital file types:

• Scanned documents = PDF files
• Scanned photos = JPG files (or PNG if you need transparency)
• Editable working documents = DOCX or XLSX
• Simple notes = TXT or RTF
• Professional photography = RAW or TIFF
• Web images = JPG, PNG, or WEBP

Hopefully this helps you to clarify which file type you should use in different circumstances.