JPEG, PNG or RAW: Which Format Does This Stock Photography Site Use?

Every download from Affordable Stock Photography is a JPG. There is no RAW option, no PNG option, and no format picker. The Download JPG button on each image page is the only button, and it hands you the full 8K file without a watermark. This article explains why that is the right choice for stock photography and what to do in the few cases where another format is genuinely needed.

What each format is for

JPEG (.jpg) is a lossy format built for photographs and photographic renders. It stores millions of colours, compresses continuous tones efficiently, and is opened by every device, browser, and print workflow on earth. At a high quality setting the compression is visually invisible; at 8K the file is typically 8–20 MB rather than the 100+ MB an uncompressed equivalent would weigh.

PNG (.png) is lossless and supports transparency. It excels at flat graphics, screenshots, logos, and anything with hard edges or an alpha channel. For a full-frame photographic image it produces enormous files with no visible benefit, because there is no transparency to preserve and no sharp-edged flat colour that JPEG would smear.

RAW (.cr3, .nef, .arw, .dng) is the unprocessed sensor data from a camera. It holds extra dynamic range and lets an editor set white balance and exposure after the fact. RAW only exists when a physical sensor captured light.

Why there is no RAW here

The catalog is AI-assisted stock imagery. The images are rendered, not photographed, so no sensor data ever existed. A "RAW" file could only be fabricated after the fact, which would be misleading. What you get instead is a finished 8K JPG that has already been processed for balanced exposure, colour, and sharpness. If you need to push the grade further, an 8K JPG has more than enough headroom for the adjustments most stock photography uses call for: a colour shift to match a brand, a vignette, a crop, a mild curve.

Where JPEG shows its limits is saving the same file over and over. Each save at a lossy setting compounds artefacts. The fix is a working habit, not a different download: open the JPG, do your edits, and save your working copy as TIFF, PSD, or PNG. Export a fresh JPG or PDF from that master for delivery. Never overwrite the original.

When PNG actually matters

You need PNG (or TIFF with alpha) in exactly one situation: transparency. If a print vendor wants a cutout of a subject with no background, or a web page needs an image that floats over a coloured section, you will cut the subject out yourself and save that layer as PNG. The source material for that cutout is still the 8K JPG, and its resolution makes clean masking easier than a smaller file would.

For a mobile app onboarding screen where the image sits inside a rounded card, you do not need PNG. The card shape is drawn by the app; the image behind it is a rectangle, and JPEG is the lighter, faster choice.

When a printer insists on TIFF

Some print shops ask for TIFF by default. That is a workflow preference, not a quality requirement. Open the JPG, save as TIFF with LZW compression, and send it. The TIFF contains the same pixels; converting adds no detail and loses none. The same applies to a request for "PNG only" from a web CMS. Convert, upload, done.

What you should not do is upscale beyond 8K to hit an arbitrary pixel target. Read the resolution article in the FAQ for the dpi arithmetic; in almost every real print job, 7680 pixels is already more than the press can resolve.

Practical checklist

• Download the JPG, store the original untouched.
• Edit in your software of choice; save the working file as TIFF, PSD, or PNG.
• Export final deliverables in whatever format the destination asks for.
• Keep the image slug and a copy of the license with the project.

Browse all images to see file dimensions listed on each page before you download.