What File Format Does My Editor Need?

As an editor and book designer, I work with a variety of file formats. Many of us, myself included until recently, are mostly clueless as to the defining aspects of most file formats. Because I believe the more we know the more efficient we can be, I thought I’d give a brief rundown here so I can help you create the right type of file for your projects.

I know this might strike you as boring and techy, but how frustrating is it when you try to upload a file somewhere and you get an error message “File not supported”? So put on a smile, pull up your socks, and know that this is going to benefit you in more ways than you expect.

What Is a File Format?

My DuckDuckGo search produced this definition of file format: The way information is encoded for storage in a computer file, defining how data is structured and read by software.

You don’t need to understand all the tech that builds them, just know that most software programs have their own native formats. The letters after the . (dot) in a file name are called the file extension. Most people recognize .docx as an MS Word file and .xlsx as MS Excel. And many recognize .pdf, .jpg, .png, but they don’t know much more about them so can tend to use them incorrectly.

Programs are designed for specific uses. If you want to manipulate numbers, you wouldn’t use Word; you’d use Excel. And what writer uses Excel to write their book?

You laugh, but that’s what understanding file formats will do for you. You’ll know exactly what you need instead of plodding down the trial-and-error highway.

A Breakdown of Formats for Writers Use

DOCX stands for document (open XML) and is an MS Word file. Most writers use this program (or a similar one) to create their manuscript. It is fully editable, which is why editors and book designers request this file for their work.

The PDF, created by Adobe, stands for portable document file. It’s designed to ensure the document looks the same, printed or digital, no matter what program it was created in. It essentially freezes the document’s appearance. A pdf is designed to preserve how the doc looks, thus you can do very little to change it depending on how it was created. Suffice to say, a pdf does little good for an editor or a designer doing the interior layout of your book.

EPUB stands for electronic publication and is the standard ebook file format. It’s designed to be reflowable, meaning the text automatically adjusts to the reader’s device, screen size, and font preferences. What many writers don’t understand about the epub is that it doesn’t preserve the exact page layout. It isn’t the ideal for heavily illustrated or highly designed books. I often hear, “I can’t open the ebook file you sent.” That’s because it requires an application like Apple Books or third-party software like Calibre to read them—another tidbit most writers don’t realize.

Formats for Images

The JPG is best for photos and complex images. It uses lossy compression, which means some image data is discarded to reduce file size. The higher the compression, the smaller the file—and the lower the image quality. It’s best for author headshots, book cover mockups for websites, photos in blog posts, and social media images.

The PNG is best for graphics, logos, screenshots, and images requiring transparency. Transparency means part of the image has no background, allowing whatever is behind the image to show through. PNG files use lossless compression, meaning they preserve image quality without discarding data (often a larger file size than the jpg for this reason). To better understand this, let’s look at an example. You design a logo in Canva, export it as a jpg, and upload it to your website, but when you place it on your site, you’ve got a white box around it. If you export as a png, no white box; the background is transparent and allows whatever is behind it to come through.

If you are using images in your book, the jpg at high resolution (300 dpi or higher) is best for print and ebook.

Manipulating Files

Sending an editor/designer a pdf is like trying to frame a round picture in a square frame. It doesn’t work. By its very nature a pdf freezes the page, so little if anything can be done with it.

You can manipulate (change/edit) some file formats are more easily than others. And that’s what you need to keep in mind. Those who create your book need the source files they can work with and change as needed, which is why they ask for MS Word files.

I hope you’ve found this informative and helpful. Now you’re armed with the knowledge to make your work more accurate and efficient. Feel free to print this page so you have the info handy when you need it and don’t have to remember it. Create a binder of such information you can keep at your fingertips for quick reference. I have a 3-ring binder full of pages I refer to regularly as I edit and as I design.

Happy creating!