PNG

PNG is a lossless raster format with 8-bit alpha transparency, offering sharp edges and no artifacts. It is preferred for converting silhouettes to 3D models, avoiding color banding and producing cleaner meshes than JPEG.

The trade-off: larger file sizes than JPEG, no CMYK support. For 3D conversion: use 16-bit grayscale for height maps (up to 4096×4096); transparent backgrounds are auto-detected, so manual masking is unnecessary.