Why does Illustrator CS6 "Save for Microsoft Office" use PNG format?

Question

I recently made some graphs in Illustrator CS6 to insert into a MS Word document. I created my original images using the Print profile with PPI set to 300. I used the "Save for Microsoft Office" option to export the images for Word. Why does this option create a PNG file (with a resolution of 150) as opposed to using, say, TIFF or EPSF format? I'm just curious.

Answer 1

TIFF and EPS are good files for printing with high resolution but also larger files than a png. Saving for Microsoft office gives you a png since it is the best format for Microsoft Office (which usually isn't used for commercial prints, and where lower dpi is acceptable). Hope this is helpful!