Working With Digital Files

Choosing a File Type

There are multiple reasons why choosing a file type is important, whether that is for work or for personal use. Firstly, one must identify who the file is being sent to, who is going to be seeing it and who is going to be reading it; this is important as having the correct file type for its purpose demonstrates professionalism and makes your life easier!

Specifically one may think about whether the file is needing to be edited by the person you are sending the file to. It must be considered if a native file or compressed file is needed; a native file is one where the recipient is able to edit it on their own computer, laptop or phone, whereas, a compressed file is a JPEG or PDF where the recipient is able to read the file, and not edit (or editing is very limited), as it has been compressed for email. 

Another important consideration for the file type is the quality of the work. For example, if you have created a poster digitally that is going to be printed for a company and the boss would like to preview the work before you print it out, you may choose to send the file in low resolution so that the boss cannot go ahead and print out your work to distribute themselves. In this instance, only you will have access to the high-resolution file that you may want to watermark before you print it out. Furthermore, it should be noted that whether the file is compressed or native will also have an effect on the quality of the file.

The nature of the content in the file will also affect the choice of file type. For instance, when working with creating a logo, software such as InDesign will be used for scalability and the file must be saved in a format where the given scale is kept. Additionally, following the example of a logo, if a logo has been created for a client, it may be suitable to save the file in multiple types so that they can use the logo on different platforms.

Finally, an obvious but important point for choosing a file type is ensuring that it can be accessed on the computer, laptop or phone that the file is being sent. Make sure you choose a file that your boss can open!

File Storage

There are four types of file storage: USB, external hard drive, local hard drive and cloud storage (google drive, one drive, iCloud).

USB and external hard drives are known as removable storage systems as they can be removed from the computer or laptop and become portable. The external hard drive has the most amount of storage (so perhaps not the most portable) and therefore is the quickest way to move a large file. However, for small and portable use, the memory stick is the better (and cheaper) option for temporary file storage.

The local hard drive is a built-in storage system that stays inside your computer or laptop. This is the first storage system that your files will be saved to. However, the laptop or computer's operating system and software are also stored on this hard drive so this may affect how much storage is available for your files. 

Online storage, also known as cloud storage, is a popular way to store files online. Google Drive, Onedrive and iCloud are a few of the most popular online storage systems. Online storage is popular among workplaces where employees work remotely or at different desks during the working day so they can access their files from anywhere. Cloud storage has a limited capacity for storage that is free and it is optional to pay for more storage 'in the cloud' to create a larger online storage place where you will be able to access your files from anywhere, as long as you can connect to the internet or have previously set up your online file storage to be used offline.

File storage organisation on a local hard drive

File Formats

There are three main groups that different file formats fall under doc files, image files and proprietary files. The file format one chooses or that their file is assigned to is important for how the data in the file is used and for preserving its quality.

Doc files can be identified as PDF and DOC. PDF is extremely common and stands for Portable Document Format. This is a good tool for sharing documents with lots of text inside; for example, a student would use a PDF to send an essay to their teacher where the teacher can easily view and print the document. 

Image files can be in the file formats of JPEG, GIF, PNG and SVG and are used for sending digital images. JPEG stands for Joint Photographic Experts Group and is the most common file type for images and has a 'lossy' compression meaning that the quality of the image decreases as the file decreases. GIFs are a popular file format that you would use to send an animated image. GIFs are formed of up to 256 colours of RGB and therefore are useful on websites or social media as they can be loaded fast due to the limited number of colours used.

Proprietary files are in file formats AI, INDD, and PSD. These formats can be edited or may require the installation of software. AI stands for Adobe Illustrator document and is preferred by most designers due to its versatility in all projects from web to print. When creating a logo, a company will prefer to use AI to create vector artwork that is easily manipulated. 

File Naming Conventions

File naming conventions are extremely important for creating, locating, storing and sending files. Using the correct file conventions is professional and saves a lot of time. A good and useful file name will provide cues to the content, version and status of a file. 

Some types of naming conventions include Versioning, CamelCaps, hyphens and underscores. Versioning is used to keep track of newer and older versions of the file; the version can either be labelled by the data (YYYY-MM-DD) or simply 'filename_v1' and 'filename_v2' etc. Companies also have the option to use versioning systems that can be purchased.

CamelCaps is the practice of writing with capital letters and without punctuation or spaces; this is good for file naming as you should avoid using special characters (&, !, ?), dots and spaces as these do not translate on HTML files. Hyphens or underscores can also be used instead of spaces to separate words.