Whether you are designing graphics or you’re purchasing pre-made designs, sometimes it can be confusing to know what file format to use with your videos.
I’m going to list out some common file types that you may come across if you go to save a file that you’ve designed or if you decide to download a graphic designed by someone else and aren’t sure whether the files they send will work for your needs.
Image File Formats
JPG or JPEG
A jpg or jpeg file is a common file type that is used for saving photos.
A lot of the time photos saved from your digital camera will be saved in a jpeg so files don’t take up so much space on your memory card.
When it comes to finding graphics on the internet in jpeg format, most of what you will find will be stock photography or even some types of background patterns.
If you’re not looking for stock photography, I would stay away from the jpeg format because it’s less versatile.
PNG
A png file is probably my favourite image file type to work with. Unlike a jpeg file, a png file has the ability to save files with a transparent background.
That doesn’t necessarily mean that all graphics are created or saved with transparent backgrounds.
If you wanted to create something with a transparent background then png file would be the best way to save it.
When it comes to searching graphics to use in videos, this would be the file format to search for.
Some files may include other files types but as a minimum requirement I would say look for a png file and make sure it says somewhere that it has a transparent background.
PSD
Files with the extension “psd” are actually Photoshop files. In order to use and modify these files you would need to have Adobe Photoshop installed on your computer or there are online options to open and edit these file types such as Pixlr and Photopea.
If the file doesn’t already come with a transparent background, you will usually have the ability to remove the background so that you can export the file as a transparent png and use them in your videos.
There may be the odd file that has some kind of background with it but there are tools you can use within Photoshop to remove that unwanted portion of the image.
AI
Similar to the psd file type, files with the extension “ai” are those created with the Adobe Illustrator program.
If you have Illustrator then you are good to go and can edit and export images as transparent png files to use them in your videos.
If you don’t have Illustrator then you will need to use an online program like Inkscape to open and edit these files.
What’s great about using Illustrator files is that they are vector files rather than raster files. In a nutshell, that just means that you can resize it to a much larger size and it will still be crisp and clean. If you resize a raster file (like jpg, png, and Photoshop files) to a size much larger than its original size then it will become blurry or pixelated.
EPS
An eps file is a vector image file. Sometimes when you purchase a collection of graphic designs and it comes as an eps file, all of the designs will be included and saved together in the eps file. In order to isolate and only use the one you want, you will have to open the file ideally in Adobe Illustrator and export the specific design that you want as a transparent png.
You can also open eps files using Photoshop and then just crop out and save the specific design that you want but it tends to make the program run a little clunkier than usual.
Video File Formats
MP4
An mp4 file is a common video file type and is largely accepted by most devices, both desktop or mobile. One of the good things about this file type is that it keeps your file size small.
One important thing to note about this file format is that it doesn’t allow you to create something with a transparent background.
In terms of video overlays, if you were to create or purchase a design in this format, make sure it has a chroma green or blue screen in the intended transparent area. With the chroma green or blue screen, you could then eliminate the colour during the editing process.
MOV
An mov file is a Quicktime movie file. I remember back in the day when mov files were sometimes hard to open if you didn’t have an Apple computer or the Quicktime movie player. I used to have to convert videos online from mov to mp4 but nowadays you can view the files with video players like VLC.
One thing to note about this file type is that not all mobile devices are able to open these videos.
What is good about this file format is that it does allow you to save videos with a transparent background. This is awesome for video overlays but do keep in mind that the video file size can be a bit large.
AEP
When you purchase special effects templates or motion graphics templates for videos online, they will often be delivered as an aep file. In order to open and edit these files you will need Adobe After Effects, so if you do not have that program installed on your computer you may want to reconsider your purchase.
It’s not likely that you will use After Effects with an iMovie project, but if you do then you’ll probably have to render and export the movie file from After Effects and import it into iMovie.
PRPROJ
Some video files available for purchase online are specific to use with Adobe Premiere Pro and those files have the extension prproj.
FCPX
If you purchased a file and it came with the extension fcpx then you have probably purchased a video file specific for Final Cut Pro video project.
Other File Formats
PPTX
A pptx file is a Powerpoint presentation file. Normally, most people are used to thinking of this software as a place to create presentation slideshows but there is also the option to create a video file of your Powerpoint presentations (as long as you specific timings and not have it as an “on click” action)
You can only save Powerpoint files as an mp4 or wmv video and can choose to save it as a resolution of 480p, 720p, 1080p or 4K.
KEY
If you have a file with key as the extension then you probably have a Keynote presentation file. This file type is Apple’s version of Powerpoint but with a lot more fun features and animation options.
Similar to Powerpoint, you can export an animation in Keynote as a movie file. Unlike Powerpoint, you have a lot more file formats to choose from.
By default, movies will save as an mp4 file and you can choose the resolution size as 720p or 1080p. However, there is the option to choose a custom resolution size and in that area you can change the size ratio to 4k and even choose the file format that allows for a transparent background (an mov video file).
A PDF file may not be a foreign file format since it is often used to save documents and forms that you can fill out.
You can save PDF files with a transparent background but the transparency won’t be preserved when you import the file into your video editor.
Another important note is that some video editing programs may not support PDFs as a media file that you can add to your project.
When I did a test, I was able to add a transparent pdf to iMovie but the image was not transparent. Adobe Premiere Pro, on the other hand, did not let me add a pdf file into my project.
GIF
Technically this file format could be listed under the images or video categories but since I couldn’t decide which one it applied to most, I’m considering it an “other” file format.
A GIF is an animated image file that plays automatically and repeats continuously.
If you have ever tried to add a GIF to your movie project, you may have noticed that it will only upload one image frame from the GIF. In order to add a gif to a movie project, you usually have to screen record it on your phone or computer so it ends up saving as a movie file like mp4.
When it comes to using and adding transparent GIFs to your movie project, the best work around is to add the GIF on a green screen or blue screen and eliminate that coloured background in the editing process.
There are a lot more file formats out there when it comes to image and video files but I just wanted to talk about the more common ones.
Summary
If you’re looking to add an image to your video project, the best image type to import is a transparent png.
If you are wanting to add an animated video overlay to your project, then you will need to work with an mov file. If your video editor doesn’t support that file format then a good work around is to use a green screen or blue screen as the background and then edit that colour out when you are editing your video project.
If you have questions about adding a file format to your video project, whether it’s one of the ones included in this post or a different one, please feel free to contact me.