File Support and Limits

Photos

Portfolio recognizes and will load the image formats JPG, TIFF, GIF (non-animated), PNG (non-transparent), and BMP. The maximum size it will import is dependent on the iPad model, though iTunes currently downsizes all images loaded through it to 1536 pixels vertical (non-retina) or 4358 pixels vertical (retina). If an image is larger than the preferred size, it will be downsized it to that for performance reasons, so you will get a substantial speed boost with loading by pre-sizing it prior to loading.

iPad Model Maximum Size Preferred Size
iPad 1 6 megapixels 2048 px
iPad 2 23 megapixels 2048 px
iPad 3 35 megapixels 4358 px
iPad Mini 23 megapixels 2048 px
iPad 4 35 megapixels 4358 px
iPad Mini 2 35 megapixels 4358 px
iPad Air 35 megapixels 4358 px
iPad Mini 3 35 megapixels 4358 px
iPad Air 2 35 megapixels 4358 px
iPad Pro 35 megapixels 5464 px

Videos

The video formats Portfolio recognizes and can play are the same ones as the iPad Videos and Photos apps. These are generally m4v, mov, mp4, mpv, and 3gp as long as the codecs are either H.264 or MPEG-4. Video files must be loaded into the iPad's Photos library to be imported using "Camera Roll" as the loading method — apps are unable to access those loaded into the Videos library. For larger video files the preferred loading method is File Sharing.

Further information on iPad video formats can be found here.

PDFs

Portfolio supports both single-page and multi-page PDFs and in the case of the latter will display the page of your choice as the poster frame (the default is the first page with a white background).

The poster frame for multi-page PDF documents can be configured in the manager by tapping on the PDF's thumbnail. The background color for the PDF can also be changed in this panel. This poster frame will display in the regular viewer, and you can view the remaining pages (including the table of contents if present) by double-tapping on the large preview of the PDF.