Workflow guide · 11 November 2026
JSON, CSV, SVG or PDF: which file should you keep?
By İsmail Tekindemir · 3 min read
An export is not always an editable backup. Match the file to the next thing you need to do.
Ownership disclosure: Taskfield Journal and all 17 featured sites are operated by İsmail Tekindemir. These are owner-written product guides, not independent reviews or paid third-party rankings. No ratings, user counts or traffic claims are implied.
A download button can mean several different things. One file preserves your working data; another is a report for someone else; a third is a picture of the result. Before closing a browser tool, ask whether the file can actually restore that tool’s state.
When you want to continue editing
In RoomKind, TrailCarry, Takeboard, Threadtile, LoadLoom, CrumbScale, ForkFable, OverlapAtlas, SproutBench, CueHarbor, PairCircuit and FoldBench, the editable JSON is the important backup. Check the individual profile for its import limit and scope. Altfolio JSON preserves drafts but omits image files; re-add uniquely named images to reconnect the previews.
Interval Orchard is a useful exception: its JSON is a session report, and report import is not supported. MaskHarbor has no editable image project export; its coordinate inventory cannot rebuild the source image and masks. GatherPlay keeps printable output rather than an editable shared project. Do not assume every file ending in .json has the same purpose.
When you want to hand over a list
CSV is useful for inspecting rows in a spreadsheet, but it usually does not preserve every setting needed to reopen a project. Takeboard exports all shots despite a screen filter. LoadLoom reports every plan section. SproutBench records a trial without observations explicitly. PairCircuit lists every participant in each planned round, including pauses. These are different row meanings: read the column headings before merging them.
When you want the visual result
RoomKind SVG is a room drawing. Threadtile SVG is a symbol chart. ForkFable SVG is a static story map. SproutBench SVG is a selected-trial chart. FoldBench SVG is a nominal net or sheet drawing with millimetre dimensions. SVG does not make all of these a scale construction plan, an editable app project or a machine job.
MaskHarbor PNG is different again: the saved bitmap replaces pixels inside the chosen rectangles. The original still exists separately on your device. Review the actual download and share the intended file.
A small closing routine
- Save the editable backup if the app supports one.
- Download the report or drawing needed by the next person.
- Open or inspect a sample of that output.
- Keep source images separately when the backup omits them.
- Only then close or refresh the tab.
Most listed apps use tab memory rather than automatic storage. TrailCarry offers opt-in device saving, which is still not cloud sync or a separate backup. Global Tools Hub stores navigation preferences such as favourites, recent tool IDs and theme; those do not preserve your working input. File handling is part of the workflow, not a detail to leave until the end.