Render File Formats: JPG, PNG, TIFF and EXR Delivery Guide

You have just received the final renders for your project, beautiful images ready to present to a client, print in a brochure, or post online. Then you open the delivery folder and find four versions of every image: JPG, PNG, TIFF, and EXR. Which one goes to the client? Which one goes to the printer? Which one do you archive? Pick the wrong file and your crisp render turns soft in print, your transparent background turns black on a website, or your post-production artist cannot recover the shadows. This guide explains every render file format a studio delivers, what each one is for, and how to ask for the right files so nothing is lost between the render and the result.

JPG: The Everyday Workhorse

JPG, also written JPEG, is the format most clients see most often. It compresses images cleverly, keeping the parts your eye notices and discarding the parts it does not, so a 4K render that would be 40 megabytes as a TIFF becomes 2 to 4 megabytes as a high-quality JPG. That makes it the right format for email, websites, social media, and client presentations. Our resolution guide explains how many pixels each use actually needs, and for most screen uses a JPG at the right resolution looks identical to the master file. JPG has two limits. First, it is lossy: every save discards a little more detail, so never edit and re-save the same JPG again and again. Keep the master file and export a fresh JPG from it. Second, JPG has no transparency, so a cut-out of a building will always come with a solid background. Ask for quality 90 to 95 out of 100 for client delivery, and avoid anything below 80, which shows banding in skies and smudging in fine detail.

PNG: When You Need Transparency and Clean Edges

PNG is the format for images with sharp edges, text, or transparency. Unlike JPG, PNG compression is lossless, so a PNG saved ten times is exactly the same as the original, and it supports a transparent background. That makes it the right choice for logos, cut-out entourage, floor plan overlays, and any image that sits on top of another image. A PNG of a building cut out against a transparent background can be dropped onto a photograph of the real site, and that is how many before-and-after presentations are built. If your project includes a site montage, ask for the PNG with an alpha channel, which is the transparency layer, and the file will composite cleanly in Photoshop or in a presentation. The price of PNG is size. A 4K PNG render can be 15 to 30 megabytes, five to ten times the size of the same image as a JPG. Use PNG when transparency or pixel-perfect edges matter, and use JPG when the image is a photograph-style render shown on screen. Our post-production guide covers how PNG files with alpha channels are used in the Photoshop finishing workflow.

TIFF: The Print and Archive Standard

TIFF is the format printers and archivists trust. It stores images without any loss, supports layers and high bit depth, and is accepted by every professional print workflow, from a local print shop to a large-format billboard printer. When a render is headed for a printed brochure, an exhibition board, a magazine, or a site hoarding, the studio should deliver a TIFF at full resolution, usually 300 dots per inch at the final print size, so the printer has every pixel the render contains. A JPG printed at that size would soften and show banding in the sky, while a TIFF holds its edges and gradients cleanly. TIFF files are large, often 40 to 100 megabytes for a 4K render, so they are not meant for email or the web. Ask whether the TIFF uses LZW compression, which shrinks the file by about half without losing anything, and whether it includes the colour profile, usually sRGB for general print or Adobe RGB for high-end work. Keep the TIFF even after the print run is done, because it is the only version that can be reprinted years later at the same quality.

EXR: The Professional's Master File

EXR is the format professionals use behind the scenes, and it is the most powerful file a studio can deliver. Developed for film visual effects, EXR stores the render in 32-bit floating point, which keeps far more brightness information than a JPG or PNG, including detail in the brightest highlights and the darkest shadows that other formats simply throw away. It also stores render elements, separate layers for light, reflection, shadow, and material colour, so a post-production artist can change the strength of the sunlight or the brightness of a window without re-rendering the scene. If your project will go through serious post-production, or if the images will be colour-graded for a campaign, ask for EXR files. EXR is not a delivery format for clients. The files are huge, often 100 megabytes or more per image, and most image viewers and phones cannot open them. The practical rule is simple: take the JPGs for presentation and publishing, take the TIFFs for print, and take the EXR files if you, or an artist you work with, will do post-production. Our per-image cost guide explains what is included in a standard delivery, and EXR files are sometimes an add-on, so confirm before the project starts whether they are part of your package.

Which Format for Which Use

The fastest way to choose is to match the format to the destination. A single image can exist in four formats at once, and each one has a job.

• Website and social media: JPG, quality 90 to 95, sized to the page. Small, fast, and identical to the master on screen.
• Email and client presentations: JPG, quality 90, at 1920 pixels wide or the size the presentation needs.
• Print, brochures, and exhibition boards: TIFF at full resolution, 300 dots per inch at the final print size, with the colour profile included.
• Cut-outs, overlays, and site montages: PNG with an alpha channel, so the building sits cleanly on a photograph of the real site.
• Post-production and colour grading: EXR with render elements, so the artist can adjust light, reflection, and shadow without re-rendering.
• Long-term archive: TIFF or EXR, kept on your own drive, because JPG quality degrades with every re-save.

If you are not sure which you need, ask the studio to deliver JPGs for immediate use and TIFFs for the archive, and add EXR only if post-production is planned. That combination covers almost every project, and it costs little extra, because the studio already has the master files. Our briefing checklist includes a delivery section, so list the formats you need there.

How Studios Deliver Files: Naming, Folders, and Resolution

A professional delivery is organised, not a single folder of files named final_v2_reallyfinal.jpg. Expect one folder per project, with subfolders for web, print, and masters, and file names that say what the image is: project name, view name, format, and resolution. That naming matters when a project has twenty views and three formats each, because the client, the printer, and the marketing team all need to find the right file without asking the studio. Agree the naming and the folder structure in the brief, and check the first delivery against it, because fixing it on view one is free and fixing it on view twenty is not. Resolution is the second part of the delivery. A web JPG is usually delivered at the size the website needs, often 1920 pixels wide, while the print TIFF is delivered at full render resolution, often 4000 to 6000 pixels wide. Ask for the delivery list in writing before work starts: how many views, which formats for each view, and what resolution. Our revisions guide explains what is included in the base price and what is billed extra, and file format re-exports sit in that second group at many studios.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which file format should I ask for from a rendering studio?

Ask for JPGs for web, email, and presentations, TIFFs at full resolution for print and archiving, and EXR files if you plan serious post-production. PNG with transparency only if you need cut-outs or site montages.

What is the difference between JPG and PNG for renders?

JPG is smaller and best for photographic renders shown on screen, but it is lossy and has no transparency. PNG is lossless and supports transparency, which makes it right for cut-outs and overlays, but the files are much larger.

Why do studios deliver TIFF files for print?

TIFF stores the image without any loss at full resolution, so it prints cleanly at large sizes. A JPG printed at the same size would show banding in skies and softness in fine detail.

What is an EXR file and do I need one?

EXR is a professional master format that keeps far more brightness detail than JPG or PNG and stores separate layers for light, reflection, and shadow. You need it only if you or an artist will do post-production or colour grading.

How big should a render file be for a website?

A web JPG at 1920 pixels wide and quality 90 to 95 is usually 1 to 3 megabytes and looks identical to the master on screen. Anything larger only slows the page down without visible benefit.

Can I convert a JPG back to TIFF or EXR later?

You can change the extension, but you cannot recover the detail the JPG discarded. A converted file is still a JPG in quality terms, which is why you should always keep the TIFF or EXR master from the studio.

File formats decide whether a beautiful render still looks beautiful on a website, in a brochure, and on a billboard, and whether it can be reprinted in two years without paying for it again. Ask for JPGs for daily use, TIFFs for print and the archive, and EXR files when post-production is planned. If you have a project coming up, send us your drawings and tell us where the images will be used, and we will deliver the right formats for every one of them.