Comparison of graphics file formats
This is a comparison of image file formats. This comparison primarily features file formats for 2D images.
General
Ownership of the format and related information.| Format | Full name | Owner | based Format | File extension | MIME type | Application | Patent- free |
| AI | Adobe Illustrator Document | Adobe Systems | .ai | application/illustrator, application/postscript | Adobe Illustrator | ||
| ANI | ANI file format | Microsoft | RIFF | .ani | Microsoft Windows | ||
| ANIM | Electronic Arts and Commodore | IFF | .iff,.anim | video/x-anim | |||
| APNG | Animated Portable Network Graphics | Mozilla | PNG | .png | image/png | Gecko 1.9 and Opera | |
| Apple Icon Image | Apple Inc. | .icns | macOS | ||||
| ART | AOL | .art | |||||
| ASCII art | .txt,.ansi,.text | text/vnd.ascii-art | Supported by GIMP | ||||
| AutoCAD DXF | Drawing Interchange Format | Autodesk | .dxf | image/vnd.dxf | |||
| ARW | Sony Alpha RAW | Sony | TIFF | .arw | |||
| AVIF | AV1 Image File Format | Alliance for Open Media | AV1 | .avif | image/avif | General purpose | |
| BAY | Casio RAW | Casio | .bay | ||||
| BMP | raw-data unencoded or encoded bitmap | simple colour image format, far older than Microsoft; some.bmp encoding formats developed/owned by Microsoft | .bmp,.dib,.rle, .2bp | image/x-bmp | Used by many 2D applications. | ||
| BPG | Better Portable Graphics | Fabrice Bellard | HEVC | .bpg | General purpose | ||
| BSAVE | BSAVE Image | .BSV | Used by IBM PC. | ||||
| CAL | CALS raster file format | .cal,.cals,.ras,.dcl | |||||
| CIFF | Camera Image File Format | Canon | .crw,.ciff | ||||
| CR2 | Canon RAW 2 | Canon | TIFF | .cr2 | |||
| CDR | CorelDRAW Document | Corel Corporation | .cdr,.ccx,.cdt,.cmx | application/coreldraw | CorelDRAW | ||
| CD5 | Chasys Draw IES Image | John Paul Chacha | .cd5 | Native format for Chasys Draw IES for storing layered images and animations | |||
| CGM | Computer Graphics Metafile | .cgm | image/cgm | CGM files are editable using programs that support the format, such as IBM Lotus Freelance Graphics, Inkscape, etc. | |||
| CIN | Cineon | .cin | image/cineon | ||||
| CPC | Cartesian Perceptual Compression | Cartesian Products, Inc. | .cpc,.cpi | image/cpi | Highly compressed raster imaging format. | ||
| DCS | Kodak DCS Pro RAW | Kodak | .dcs | ||||
| DCR | Digital Camera Raw | Kodak | TIFF | .dcr | |||
| DDS | DirectDraw Surface | Microsoft | .dds | ||||
| DNG | Digital Negative | Adobe Systems | compatible with ISO 12234-2, TIFF/EP | .dng | A raw image format suitable as an archival format and as the native raw format of digital cameras | ||
| DICOM | Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine | National Electrical Manufacturers Association | .dcm,.dicom | application/dicom | Numerous biomedical imaging applications, some general bitmap graphics applications | ||
| DjVu | DjVu | AT&T Research | .djvu,.djv | image/vnd.djvu | |||
| DPX | Digital Picture eXchange file format | .dpx | image/dpx | ||||
| DRF | Kodak Pro Back RAW | Kodak | .drf | ||||
| Encapsulated PostScript | page description/scripting language | Adobe | .epi,.eps,.eps2, .eps3,.epsf,.epsi, .ept | application/postscript | printing/publishing industry standard format | ||
| ECW | Enhanced Compressed Wavelet | ERDAS | .ecw | Wavelet image format used primarily with geo-referenced aerial and satellite imagery | |||
| EMF | Enhanced Metafile Format | Microsoft | .emf,.emz | Microsoft Office | |||
| EMF+ | Enhanced Metafile Format Plus Extensions | Microsoft | .emf,.emz | ||||
| ERF | EPSON RAW | EPSON | TIFF | .erf | |||
| Exif | Exchangeable Image File Format | .exif | |||||
| EVA | Extended Vector Animation | Sharp Corporation | .eva | application/x-eva | |||
| EXR | OpenEXR | ILM | .exr | image/exr | Used in film effects for 3d rendering and hdr images. | ||
| FITS | Flexible Image Transport System | .fit,.fits | Scientific data acquisition | ||||
| FLIC | Autodesk | .fli,.flc,.flx,.flh,.flt | Supported by GIMP | ||||
| FLIF | Free Lossless Image Format | .flif,.flf | General-purpose, superseded by Jpeg XL | ||||
| FPX | FlashPix | .fpx | image/vnd.fpx | ||||
| Gerber Format | The Gerber Format Specification | Ucamco | Printable ASCII | .gbr | application/vnd.gerber | Printed Circuit Board or PCB software | |
| GIF | Graphics Interchange Format | CompuServe, Unisys | .gif,.gfa,.giff | image/gif | General purpose, popular for small animated images | ||
| HEIF | High Efficiency Image Format | Motion Pictures Expert Group | .heif,.heic | image/heif, image/heic, image/heic-sequence, image/heif-sequence | General purpose | ||
| HDRi | TIFF | .tif,.tiff | image/tiff | ||||
| ICER | NASA Mars Rovers | ||||||
| ICO | ICO file format | Microsoft | .ico,.cur | image/vnd.Microsoft.icon, image/x-icon | Microsoft Windows and web browsers as favicon | ||
| ICS | Image Cytometry Standard | .ics,.ids | |||||
| IGES | Initial Graphics Exchange Specification | .igs | image/iges | CAD/CAM interoperability | |||
| ILBM | InterLeaved BitMap | Electronic Arts and Commodore | IFF | .iff,.ilbm,.lbm | image/x-ilbm | Planar graphics format designed for Amiga graphics hardware. | |
| JBIG | Joint Bi-level Image Experts Group | .jbig,.bie,.jbg | |||||
| JBIG2 | Joint Bi-level Image Experts Group | ||||||
| JNG | JPEG Network Graphics | .jng | image/x-jng | ||||
| JPEG | Joint Photographic Experts Group | Joint Photographic Experts Group | .jpg,.jpeg,.jpe | image/jpeg | General purpose | ||
| JPEG 2000 | Joint Photographic Experts Group 2000 | Joint Photographic Experts Group | .jp2,.j2c,.jpc, .j2k,.jpx | image/jp2 | General purpose | ||
| JPEG-LS | Joint Photographic Experts Group | .jls | |||||
| JPEG-HDR | Dolby Laboratories/BrightSide Technologies | JPEG | General purpose | ||||
| JPEG XL | Joint Photographic Experts Group | PIK, FUIF | .jxl | image/jxl | General-purpose, lossless JPEG transcoding. | ||
| JPEG XT | Joint Photographic Experts Group | General purpose | |||||
| JPEG XR / HD Photo | JPEG XR / HD Photo | Microsoft | .wdp,.hdp,.jxr | image/vnd.ms-photo | General purpose | ||
| KDC | Kodak DC40/DC50 RAW | Kodak | TIFF | .kdc | |||
| K25 | Kodak DC25 RAW | Kodak | TIFF | .k25 | |||
| Logluv TIFF | Greg Ward | TIFF | Supported by LibTIFF | ||||
| MNG | Multiple-image Network Graphics | PNG | .mng | video/x-mng | |||
| NEF | Nikon RAW | Nikon | TIFF | .nef | |||
| MIFF | Magick image file format | ImageMagick Studio | .miff | ImageMagick | |||
| MRW | Minolta RAW | Minolta | .mrw | ||||
| ORF | Olympus RAW | Olympus | TIFF | .orf | |||
| PAM | portable arbitrary map file format | .pam | image/x-portable-arbitrarymap | ||||
| PBM | Portable Bitmap File Format | ASCII | .pbm | image/x-portable-bitmap | |||
| PCX | ZSoft PC Paintbrush File | ZSoft Corporation | .pcx,.pcc,.dcx | image/x-pcx | Dated rle packed indexed image format, used in some early 3d shooting games like Unreal Tournament as it takes up very little space and is easy to decode. | ||
| Portable Document Format | Adobe Systems | .pdf,.epdf | application/pdf | ||||
| PEF | PENTAX RAW | PENTAX | TIFF | .pef | |||
| PGF | Progressive Graphics File | xeraina GmbH | .pgf | Photographic images, eventual replacement for JPEG. | |||
| PGM | Portable Graymap File Format | ASCII | .pgm | image/x-portable-graymap | |||
| PGML | Precision Graphics Markup Language | Adobe Systems, IBM, Netscape, Sun Microsystems | |||||
| PICT | Macintosh PICT Format | Apple Inc. | .pict,.pic,.pct, .pct1,.pct2 | image/pict | Metafile for Classic Mac OS, not meant for print publishing. | Likely expired | |
| PICtor | John Bridges, Doug Wolfgram | .pic | Supported by PCPaint | ||||
| PNG | Portable Network Graphics | World Wide Web Consortium | .png | image/png | General purpose | ||
| PNM | Portable Anymap File Format | ASCII | .pnm | image/x-portable-anymap | |||
| PostScript | page description/scripting language, levels 1–3 | Adobe | .ps,.ps2,.ps3 | printing/publishing industry standard format | |||
| PPM | Portable Pixmap File Format | ASCII | .ppm | image/x-portable-pixmap | Very easy to understand. Programs to analyze and write to this format are easily written. | ||
| PSD | Photoshop Document | Adobe Systems | .psd,.psb,.pdb, .pdd | image/vnd.adobe.photoshop | Used mainly for storing image manipulation & editing data. | ||
| PSP | Paint Shop Pro Document | Corel Corporation | .psp,.tub, .pspimage | image/x-psp | Paint Shop Pro | ||
| QOI | Quite OK Image Format | Dominic Szablewski | .qoi | ||||
| RAD | Gregory Ward Larson | .rad | Radiance | ||||
| RAF | Fujifilm RAW | Fujifilm | .raf | ||||
| RGBE | Gregory Ward Larson | .hdr | image/vnd.radiance | Radiance, most HDR imaging software | |||
| SGI | Silicon Graphics Image | .sgi,.rgb,.rgba, .bw,.int,.inta, .icon | |||||
| SRF | Sony RAW File | Sony | TIFF | .srf,.sr2 | |||
| SVG | Scalable Vector Graphics | World Wide Web Consortium | XML | .svg, .svgz | image/svg+xml | Vector graphics | |
| SWF | Shockwave Flash | Adobe Systems | .swf | application/x-shockwave-flash | Adobe Flash Player | ||
| TGA | Truevision Targa | Truevision Inc. | .tga,.tpic | image/tga | Texture format used by many 3d application. | ||
| TIFF | Tag Image File Format | Adobe Systems | .tiff,.tif | image/tiff | Document scanning and imaging format, also functions as a container. | ||
| TIFF/EP | Tag Image File Format / Electronic Photography | International Organization for Standardization | TIFF | .tiff,.tif | |||
| UFO | Ulead File for Objects | .ufo | |||||
| VML | Vector Markup Language | Microsoft | XML | .htm,.html | application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.vmlDrawing | Internet Explorer, Microsoft Office | |
| WBMP | Wireless Application Protocol Bitmap Format | Open Mobile Alliance | .wbmp,.wbm,.wbp | image/vnd.wap.wbmp | Used in WAP-pages | ||
| WebP | WebP image format | .webp | image/webp | General purpose | |||
| WMF | Windows Metafile Format | Microsoft | .wmf,.wmz | ||||
| XAR | Xar | Xara | Xar | .xar | application/vnd.xara | Xara Photo & Graphic Designer | |
| XBM | X BitMap, colour variant of original black-and-white bitmap format | .xbm,.bm, .icon,.bitmap | image/x-xbitmap | Used by many legacy Unix applications. | |||
| XCF | XCF, name derived from eXperimental Computing Facility | The GIMP Team | .xcf, .xcfbz2 , .xcfgz | application/x-gimp-image | GIMP | ||
| XPM | X-Pixmap | .xpm,.pm | image/x-xpm | Legacy Unix applications | |||
| X3F | SIGMA RAW | SIGMA | .x3f | ||||
| Format | Full name | Owner | based Format | File extension | MIME type | Application | Patent- free |