How can PHP developers ensure that file permissions are properly set for newly created files?

PHP developers can ensure that file permissions are properly set for newly created files by using the `chmod()` function to set the desired permissions after creating the file. This function allows developers to specify the file path and the permissions to be set in octal format.

$file = 'new_file.txt';
$handle = fopen($file, 'w');
fclose($handle);

// Set file permissions to 0644
chmod($file, 0644);