Overview

All PhotoShelter for Brands accounts support image, video, audio, document and other file types. During upload, our system detects the file type and format automatically and sorts files into 4 different categories based on file type and format:

• Image
• Video
• Audio
• Other

• File formats determine what kind of software can be used to preview or work with a file. For example, Adobe Lightroom handles many image file formats, but cannot work with audio files
• To determine a file’s format, check the file extension
• For example, the file baseball-game.jpg has a file extension of .jpg, which means it’s a JPEG, a specific type of image file
• It’s important not to edit or remove the file extension for your files, if you know the extension is accurate
• For example, if you changed the filename of baseball-game.jpg to baseball-game.mp3 (an audio file extension), or removed the extension entirely so the file was named just baseball-game, your operating system might have trouble knowing what software program to use for that file, and you may not be able to open it correctly

Image files

PhotoShelter for Brands supports many image file formats, such as:

• JPG, JPEG
• TIFF, TIF
• PNG
• PSD
• AI
• HEIF, HEIC
• Camera raw photos: most proprietary raw formats, such as CR2 and NEF, and any raw file converted to DNG. PhotoShelter uses the camera's generic profile as a reference to convert it to sRGB to display. 

RAW files are supported for archival use only and will be displayed as resized JPGs on PhotoShelter. Our image processor creates JPG previews for RAW files, so you may notice color AND/or display variances when viewing them in the Library or Portal. RAW files downloaded from PhotoShelter as resized JPGs will retain those display variances in programs like Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop, so we recommend downloading and delivering RAW files in the “Original File” format when possible.

RAW files are uncompressed and do not store metadata. Any IPTC metadata applied to RAW files in PhotoShelter will not be applied upon download.

NOTE: PhotoShelter uses your camera’s generic color profile as a reference when converting to sRGB for web display. For a better visual experience, pleasure ensure that your color profile is set to sRGB prior to upload.

PDF Files

Viewing multiple pages of a PDF file is fully supported in the Library and the Portal. Users can flip through all pages of a PDF booklet using the pagination arrows at the bottom of the single file view to scroll through a PDF booklet:

Note: PDF files exceeding 18 MB cannot be viewed in the Library or Portal, and must be downloaded first.

Limited File Support:

• GIF
  • No playback is available within PhotoShelter for Brands , so GIFs will render as a static image. If downloaded, a GIF can be played back.
• XMP
  • XMP sidecar files can be uploaded alongside Raw files using the Desktop Uploader and Incoming FTP only. The metadata contained in the sidecar files will be applied to raw files with the same filename upon upload. Downloading raw files will not download the XMP sidecars. In other words, XMP files are processed upon upload and not kept as original entities.
•  
• EPS
  • PhotoShelter for Brands generates an image preview of an EPS file’s contents
  • Because this image is adjusted for web display, the image may not look exactly like the original EPS file
• SVG
  • SVG files that contain HTML will render as images
  • SVG files that contain JavaScript/CSS will not render as images, in the interest of security. They may appear blank when previewing in PhotoShelter for Brands , but their contents are not changed in any way
  • PhotoShelter for Brands generates an image preview of some SVG files’ contents
• Font files, such as DFONT, OTF, and TTF
  • PhotoShelter for Brands generates an image preview for some font files, but does not support previews for all fonts

For more information on specific image file types, check out the article on preparing your files for upload.

Video files

PhotoShelter for Brands supports the following Video formats:

• MOV
• MP4
• M4V
• MXF
• HEVC-encoded video files
• Other common video files from DSLR and other cameras, or those created by video editing software
• Full video support can depend on many factors, such as a video’s frame size, frame rate, data rate, codec, and other factors
• The general rule of thumb is: if it uploads and displays as a video file, we support it.
• Drone videos can vary in formatting and can often be missing the metadata that our video processors require to upload the files and store them correctly. If you have upload issues unrelated to your Internet connection, try to run the video through a program like Adobe Media Encoder or Adobe Premiere Pro (or any video encoding software) and re-export it. Usually, this will apply the required metadata on the files and resolve any upload issues.

Recommended video settings:

Container: MP4
Codec: H.264
Resolution: 640px to 3840px (4K) wide
Bitrate: 10 to 60 Mbps
Framerate: 15-60 FPS (constant)
Aspect ratio: 16:9 
File size: up to 20 GB

Videos can be uploaded via the Contributor web uploader or incoming FTP. 

Audio files

PhotoShelter for Brands can handle many audio file types, such as:

• MP3
• WAV
• MP4, M4A
• AIFF, AIF
• AAC

Recommended audio settings:

Container: MP4
Codec: AAC
Sample Rate: 44.1 kHz
Channels: Stereo
 

Audio files can be uploaded via the Contributor web uploader or incoming FTP. 

Other files

PhotoShelter for Brands can handle many other non-media file types and formats, such as:

• INDD and other Adobe InDesign files
• DOC, DOCX
• XLS, XLSX
• PPT, PPTX
• TXT
• CSV
• ZIP: will stay zipped upon upload
• XML
• Other miscellaneous file types

These file types can be uploaded via the Library Contributor web uploader and incoming FTP. PhotoShelter for Brands does not offer previews for these file types when your organization receives them.