What image formats does design automation support?

Design automation tools typically support multiple output formats, each suited for different use cases:

PNG (Portable Network Graphics)

• Best for: social media, web, designs with transparency
• Lossless quality (no compression artifacts)
• Supports transparent backgrounds
• Larger file size than JPEG
• Use when: quality matters most and file size is secondary

JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group)

• Best for: photos, email attachments, large batches
• Lossy compression, smaller files but some quality loss
• No transparency support
• Adjustable quality (70-95% is typical)
• Use when: file size matters and the image has photographic content

PDF (Portable Document Format)

• Best for: certificates, documents, print materials
• Vector-friendly, text stays crisp at any zoom level
• Multi-page support
• Print-ready with CMYK color space
• Use when: the output will be printed or needs to be a formal document

WebP (Google's image format)

• Best for: web performance, modern browsers
• 25-35% smaller than PNG/JPEG at equivalent quality
• Supports both lossy and lossless compression
• Supports transparency
• Use when: serving images on the web and performance matters

Format recommendations by use case:

With Layerre: Set export_type on POST /v1/template/{template_id}/variant (png, jpeg, webp, or pdf). The default is PNG.