Web-Optimized File Formats

While ConceptShare has a long list of supported file formats and optimization guidelines, it does not mean that all formats are equally efficient. The result of improper optimization of your file has a downstream impact on everyone who needs to look at and review the asset.

It is important to make a distinction between file formats that ConceptShare supports and those that are optimized for web browsers. For example, ConceptShare supports many different image formats, as well as document file formats, but web browsers may not be optimized to display most of these file types. Therefore, when you upload file formats that browsers do not support, ConceptShare first converts these files into a proxy format, such as JPEG for images and PDF for documents, which the browser can display to reviewers.

Example

For example, you have a high-resolution Adobe Photoshop image file whose size is 1000 MB. You have several options:

• ConceptShare supports PSD so you can upload the 1000-MB file as is.
• Export the PSD file to a flat image format like TIFF, which would shrink the file size down to 100 MB, and then upload the file to ConceptShare (better option).
• Export the PSD file as a web-optimized image format (for example, JPEG, PNG), which would likely shrink the file size down to less than 100 MB, and then upload the file to ConceptShare (best option).

Why go through the trouble?

• As the asset uploader, you will spend less time uploading each asset (1000 MB file vs. 20 MB file).
• As a reviewer, you will spend less time waiting for a large asset to be downloaded and displayed.

In such a case, the visual quality can be kept indistinguishable; only the uploaders' and reviewers' wait times are reduced and their experience positively impacted.

If we take the preceding example and apply the time savings at scale across the whole team, we see a significant increase in efficiency. Selecting the best format saves time and improves the user experience. As such, when given the choice, ConceptShare recommends uploading web-friendly file formats such as:

• JPEG / PNG for images
• PDF for documents
• Video using h.264 at 1080p or 720p, and Audio using AAC codecs

Asset-Viewing Tips

File Type	Tip
Documents	Export native document formats to PDF and select the Optimize Image for Web option to keep the document size and complexity to a minimum while maintaining the fidelity of the asset.
PDFs	Keep files flat and simple. As much as possible, flatten layers and transparencies. Reviewers in ConceptShare will only see one layer (everything), so maintaining layer order and transparency data makes the PDF larger than necessary. This will make your reviewers' browser less responsive because it has to process a more complex document to render the same information. Avoid embedding images with resolutions higher than 110 DPI. If you tile images, make sure to optimize them for reuse so that the PDF does not save 1000 embedded copies of the same tiled image.
Images	Formats like PSD and TIFF can take up more space without substantial improvement to ConceptShare reviewers in terms of added image quality and fidelity as compared to PNG or JPEG exports. Use JPEG or PNG formats for images instead.