3D Artist's Handbook

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Image Extensions

Dec 14, 2024, 2 min read

Great File Formats for Textures

Open EXR

  • HDR and linear
  • Small size
  • Fast render time
  • Premultiplied Alpha
  • All render passes
  • 16bit & 32bit (increased render time)
  • PIZ variant: lossless compression (bigger size but better quality) or DWAA variant: lossy compression (smaller size but worse quality)

TGA

  • Small size
  • Straight Alpha
  • 16bit RGBA & 24bit RGB (no alpha) & 32bit RGBA (increased render time)
  • Raw (no compression) or Lossless REL compression (works best on logos and cartoons)

PNG

  • Small size
  • Extremely slow render time
  • Straight Alpha
  • 16bit RGBA or 24bit RGB (no alpha) or 32bit RGBA
  • RAW or Lossless compression or Lossy compression

TIFF

  • Straight Alpha, Premultiplied Alpha

Software Support

SoftwareSupported file formats
Marmoset Toolbag (Export)TGA (8bit), PNG (8bit, 16bit), PSD (8bit, 16bit, 32bit)
BlenderAll
Substance Painter
ZBrush
Unreal Engine
Maya
3D-Coat
Photoshop8bit, 16bit, 32bit
Clip Studio Paintonly 8bit

Factors

There are 3 factors to compare when choosing between image formats:

  • Bit Depth
  • Compression & Encoding
  • Alpha (Occlusion / Transparency / Opacity)

Compression & Encoding

Compression can be lossless or lossy. Lossless allows to reconstruct the original values as is. Lossy compression leverages that the human perception doesn’t notice slight quality degradation. It can therefore reach higher compression ratios. Lossless vs. lossy doesn’t influence the save speed, but compression speeds up save time.

Alpha (Occlusion / Transparency / Opacity)

Straight Alpha / Unassociated Alpha / Un-matted Alpha

  • Can’t model pixels that are simultaneously emissive and semi-transparent

Premultiplied Alpha, Associated Alpha & Matted Alpha

  • Can store pixels that are simultaneously emissive and semi-transparent
  • Suitable for VFX / Compositing

Comparison

🚧 Take this image with a grain of salt

Graph View

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