In this article, we introduce common file formats related to comics.

Picture Format

Comic pictures need to be saved in image or graphic format.

Common image formats:

  • JPG, a lossy image format
  • BMP, a lossless image format
  • PNG, an image format that supports transparency which saves richer content
  • WebP, an image format with a high compression rate, mainly used for web pages
  • GIF, a motion picture format
  • TIFF, an image format that allows multiple images to be saved in a single file

Common graphic formats:

  • SVG
  • EPS

Comic File Format

It is often necessary to save multiple comic images in a single file for distribution.

Here are a few of the formats that are commonly used:

  • PDF
  • ZIP
  • CBR/CBZ. These two formats are actually compressed packages, the former using RAR compression, the latter using ZIP compression
  • EPUB, an open source ebook format that uses ZIP compression
  • MOBI/AZW. Kindle’s e-book format

Project Format

  • PSD/PSB, Adobe Photoshop’s file format
  • AI, Adobe Illustrator’s file format
  • IDML/INDD, Adobe InDesign’s file format

The comic translation software, ImageTrans, supports most of the file formats mentioned above.