You can add any kind of file to Extensis Connect as an asset: word processing document, digital image, time-based media, and anything else that you can put on a disk.
Connect does extra processing for certain common file types. This processing includes creating thumbnails and large-size preview images and extracting metadata.
The file types that Connect processes on upload are listed in the following table.
| File format | Extensions | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Adobe Illustrator | .ai |
Illustrator is a vector graphics editor; vector illustrations can be scaled to any size with no loss of detail, and can be fairly compact in size. Note: In order for Connect to process Illustrator files, be sure to save your documents with PDF compatibility. |
| Adobe InDesign Document | .indd |
InDesign is desktop publishing and typesetting software. InDesign documents can contain text, images, and embedded documents of many kinds (including other InDesign documents). Tip: Connect will use the document’s built-in preview. To change what is saved for a document, open the Preferences dialog, select Always Save Preview Images with Documents, specify which pages to create previews for, and specify the preview size. We recommend using the largest preview size possible. |
| Adobe InDesign template | .indt | A template is similar to a normal document except that the application uses it as the basis for a new document, with all the content and settings saved with the template. |
| Adobe Photoshop Document | .psd | PSD is a layered image format proprietary to Adobe. Each layer can consist of an editable raster image, editable styled text, certain vector information, or image manipulation information (filters or masks, for example). |
| Digital negative | .dng |
Adobe describes DNG as “a non-proprietary file format for camera raw image data and metadata.” They developed it so there would be a universal format for raw digital camera data. Adobe provides tools to convert between most camera-specific raw formats and DNG. |
| Encapsulated PostScript | .eps | An EPS document is a PostScript drawing with a preview image “encapsulated” into the body of the file (typically the preview is added as a TIFF encoded in the PostScript header). Since an EPS may not be self-contained, and since some applications cannot interpret previews correctly, we recommend converting EPS assets to Adobe Illustrator or another self-contained file format when possible. |
| Graphics Interchange Format | .gif | This raster file typically has a limited color palette and is well-known for being easily animated. (Connect can import and export animated GIFs but cannot play the animation.) When pronouncing GIF as a word, the G is soft, as in giraffe. So says Steve Wilhite, the primary developer of the GIF format. |
| High Efficiency Image Container | .heic | Since 2017 (with the advent of iOS 11 and macOS 10.13), cameras on Apple devices have used HEIC as their native format. HEIC is a “container” file that holds HEIF images or sequnces. HEIC images can be half the size of JPEG images (or even smaller), but with better quality. Wikipedia can tell you a lot more. |
| JPEG | .jpg, .jpeg | Developed by (among others) the Joint Photographic Experts Group as a method of lossy compression for digital photographs. It allows a tradeoff between compression and quality, and is one of the most popular image formats on the World Wide Web. |
| JPEG 2000 | .jp2, .jpf, .jpx | JPEG 2000 offers the ability to store different parts of a photo at different quality. The format is commonly used in geospatial applications. |
| Microsoft Excel workbook | .xls, .xlsx | The older .xls file is a proprietary binary format. The .xlsx, .pptx, and .docx are ZIP-compressed files following the Office Open XML format. |
| Microsoft PowerPoint presentation | .ppt, .pptx | The older .ppt file is a proprietary binary format. The .xlsx, .pptx, and .docx are ZIP-compressed files following the Office Open XML format. |
| Microsoft Word document | .doc, .docx | The older .doc file is a proprietary binary format. The .xlsx, .pptx, and .docx are ZIP-compressed files following the Office Open XML format. |
| MPEG-4 Part 14 | .mp4 |
A “digital multimedia container format” or, most commonly, a video file. As a container, To learn all there is to know about |
| MrSID | .sid | MrSID is a multi-resolution format used extensively in geospatial, medical, and other fields where extremely large imagery must be manipulated quickly. Connect processes MG2, MG3, and MG4 raster files only; LiDAR MG4 files can be added but are not processed. Read more about the inimitable MrSID. |
| Portable Document Format | PDF was developed by Adobe as a way to present documents containing formatted text and images independent of software, hardware, and operating system. | |
| Portable Network Graphic | .png | PNG was developed to be a replacement for the GIF format, since GIF was involved in patent issues. PNG is designed for Web images so it doesn’t support non-RGB color spaces (such as CMYK). It does support lossless compression and full color. |
| QuickTime File Format | .mov, .qt |
The Read more about |
| Scalable Vector Graphic | .svg | SVG is an XML-based markup language for describing two-dimensional images. SVG images can be embedded directly in HTML and can be styled with CSS. For details, see https://www.w3.org/Graphics/SVG/. |
| Tagged Image File Format | .tif, .tiff | TIFF was created by Aldus Corporation to provide a standard output format for scanner manufacturers. TIFF provides much flexibility with its ability to store multiple images in layers and pages, with different types of compression. (Aldus was purchased by Adobe in 1994 and they have maintained and improved the TIFF standard since then.) |
| TrueVision TGA (TARGA) | .tga | TrueVision, Inc., formed from a division of AT&T, developed still image and video capture cards. TARGA was the name given to some of their cards. The TGA format was used in video “paint” programs, online real estate browsing, and still-frame video conferencing. 32-bit TGA files, which include an alpha channel for transparency, are used in real-time video character generators for text overlay on live video broadcasts. |
| Camera Raw | (multiple) | Camera Raw is the general term used to describe the native image recorded by a digital camera. The camera’s native format may record additional information about the image that is typically discarded when converting to a different format, so keeping the native “raw” image is very important. We utilize Adobe’s Camera Raw software to provide support for a wide variety of cameras. The current list of supported cameras is here. (Note that Adobe updates its Camera Raw software frequently, and Connect may not yet be updated to the latest version.) |