Originally published at: Forgotten image formats worth knowin | Boing Boing
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You want image formats? I got your (mostly GIS-specific) image formats right here:
It's a long list
# gdalinfo --formats
Supported Formats:
BAG -raster- (rwv): Bathymetry Attributed Grid
ECW -raster- (rw): ERDAS Compressed Wavelets (SDK 3.x)
JP2ECW -raster,vector- (rw+v): ERDAS JPEG2000 (SDK 3.x)
FITS -raster- (rw+): Flexible Image Transport System
GMT -raster- (rw): GMT NetCDF Grid Format
HDF4 -raster- (ros): Hierarchical Data Format Release 4
HDF4Image -raster- (rw+): HDF4 Dataset
HDF5 -raster- (rovs): Hierarchical Data Format Release 5
HDF5Image -raster- (rov): HDF5 Dataset
KEA -raster- (rw+v): KEA Image Format (.kea)
MrSID -raster- (rov): Multi-resolution Seamless Image Database (MrSID)
netCDF -raster,vector- (rw+s): Network Common Data Format
VRT -raster- (rw+v): Virtual Raster
DERIVED -raster- (ro): Derived datasets using VRT pixel functions
GTiff -raster- (rw+vs): GeoTIFF
NITF -raster- (rw+vs): National Imagery Transmission Format
RPFTOC -raster- (rovs): Raster Product Format TOC format
ECRGTOC -raster- (rovs): ECRG TOC format
HFA -raster- (rw+v): Erdas Imagine Images (.img)
SAR_CEOS -raster- (rov): CEOS SAR Image
CEOS -raster- (rov): CEOS Image
JAXAPALSAR -raster- (rov): JAXA PALSAR Product Reader (Level 1.1/1.5)
GFF -raster- (rov): Ground-based SAR Applications Testbed File Format (.gff)
ELAS -raster- (rw+v): ELAS
AIG -raster- (rov): Arc/Info Binary Grid
AAIGrid -raster- (rwv): Arc/Info ASCII Grid
GRASSASCIIGrid -raster- (rov): GRASS ASCII Grid
SDTS -raster- (rov): SDTS Raster
DTED -raster- (rwv): DTED Elevation Raster
PNG -raster- (rwv): Portable Network Graphics
JPEG -raster- (rwv): JPEG JFIF
MEM -raster- (rw+): In Memory Raster
JDEM -raster- (rov): Japanese DEM (.mem)
GIF -raster- (rwv): Graphics Interchange Format (.gif)
BIGGIF -raster- (rov): Graphics Interchange Format (.gif)
ESAT -raster- (rov): Envisat Image Format
BSB -raster- (rov): Maptech BSB Nautical Charts
XPM -raster- (rwv): X11 PixMap Format
BMP -raster- (rw+v): MS Windows Device Independent Bitmap
DIMAP -raster- (rov): SPOT DIMAP
AirSAR -raster- (rov): AirSAR Polarimetric Image
RS2 -raster- (rovs): RadarSat 2 XML Product
SAFE -raster- (rov): Sentinel-1 SAR SAFE Product
PCIDSK -raster,vector- (rw+v): PCIDSK Database File
PCRaster -raster- (rw+): PCRaster Raster File
ILWIS -raster- (rw+v): ILWIS Raster Map
SGI -raster- (rw+v): SGI Image File Format 1.0
SRTMHGT -raster- (rwv): SRTMHGT File Format
Leveller -raster- (rw+v): Leveller heightfield
Terragen -raster- (rw+v): Terragen heightfield
ISIS3 -raster- (rw+v): USGS Astrogeology ISIS cube (Version 3)
ISIS2 -raster- (rw+v): USGS Astrogeology ISIS cube (Version 2)
PDS -raster- (rov): NASA Planetary Data System
PDS4 -raster,vector- (rw+vs): NASA Planetary Data System 4
VICAR -raster- (rov): MIPL VICAR file
TIL -raster- (rov): EarthWatch .TIL
ERS -raster- (rw+v): ERMapper .ers Labelled
JP2OpenJPEG -raster,vector- (rwv): JPEG-2000 driver based on OpenJPEG library
L1B -raster- (rovs): NOAA Polar Orbiter Level 1b Data Set
FIT -raster- (rwv): FIT Image
GRIB -raster- (rwv): GRIdded Binary (.grb, .grb2)
RMF -raster- (rw+v): Raster Matrix Format
WCS -raster- (rovs): OGC Web Coverage Service
WMS -raster- (rwvs): OGC Web Map Service
MSGN -raster- (rov): EUMETSAT Archive native (.nat)
RST -raster- (rw+v): Idrisi Raster A.1
INGR -raster- (rw+v): Intergraph Raster
GSAG -raster- (rwv): Golden Software ASCII Grid (.grd)
GSBG -raster- (rw+v): Golden Software Binary Grid (.grd)
GS7BG -raster- (rw+v): Golden Software 7 Binary Grid (.grd)
COSAR -raster- (rov): COSAR Annotated Binary Matrix (TerraSAR-X)
TSX -raster- (rov): TerraSAR-X Product
COASP -raster- (ro): DRDC COASP SAR Processor Raster
R -raster- (rwv): R Object Data Store
MAP -raster- (rov): OziExplorer .MAP
KMLSUPEROVERLAY -raster- (rwv): Kml Super Overlay
PDF -raster,vector- (rw+vs): Geospatial PDF
Rasterlite -raster- (rwvs): Rasterlite
MBTiles -raster,vector- (rw+v): MBTiles
PLMOSAIC -raster- (ro): Planet Labs Mosaics API
CALS -raster- (rwv): CALS (Type 1)
WMTS -raster- (rwv): OGC Web Map Tile Service
SENTINEL2 -raster- (rovs): Sentinel 2
MRF -raster- (rw+v): Meta Raster Format
PNM -raster- (rw+v): Portable Pixmap Format (netpbm)
DOQ1 -raster- (rov): USGS DOQ (Old Style)
DOQ2 -raster- (rov): USGS DOQ (New Style)
PAux -raster- (rw+v): PCI .aux Labelled
MFF -raster- (rw+v): Vexcel MFF Raster
MFF2 -raster- (rw+): Vexcel MFF2 (HKV) Raster
FujiBAS -raster- (rov): Fuji BAS Scanner Image
GSC -raster- (rov): GSC Geogrid
FAST -raster- (rov): EOSAT FAST Format
BT -raster- (rw+v): VTP .bt (Binary Terrain) 1.3 Format
LAN -raster- (rw+v): Erdas .LAN/.GIS
CPG -raster- (rov): Convair PolGASP
IDA -raster- (rw+v): Image Data and Analysis
NDF -raster- (rov): NLAPS Data Format
EIR -raster- (rov): Erdas Imagine Raw
DIPEx -raster- (rov): DIPEx
LCP -raster- (rwv): FARSITE v.4 Landscape File (.lcp)
GTX -raster- (rw+v): NOAA Vertical Datum .GTX
LOSLAS -raster- (rov): NADCON .los/.las Datum Grid Shift
NTv1 -raster- (rov): NTv1 Datum Grid Shift
NTv2 -raster- (rw+vs): NTv2 Datum Grid Shift
CTable2 -raster- (rw+v): CTable2 Datum Grid Shift
ACE2 -raster- (rov): ACE2
SNODAS -raster- (rov): Snow Data Assimilation System
KRO -raster- (rw+v): KOLOR Raw
ROI_PAC -raster- (rw+v): ROI_PAC raster
RRASTER -raster- (rw+v): R Raster
BYN -raster- (rw+v): Natural Resources Canada's Geoid
ARG -raster- (rwv): Azavea Raster Grid format
RIK -raster- (rov): Swedish Grid RIK (.rik)
USGSDEM -raster- (rwv): USGS Optional ASCII DEM (and CDED)
GXF -raster- (rov): GeoSoft Grid Exchange Format
NWT_GRD -raster- (rw+v): Northwood Numeric Grid Format .grd/.tab
NWT_GRC -raster- (rov): Northwood Classified Grid Format .grc/.tab
ADRG -raster- (rw+vs): ARC Digitized Raster Graphics
SRP -raster- (rovs): Standard Raster Product (ASRP/USRP)
BLX -raster- (rwv): Magellan topo (.blx)
PostGISRaster -raster- (rws): PostGIS Raster driver
SAGA -raster- (rw+v): SAGA GIS Binary Grid (.sdat, .sg-grd-z)
IGNFHeightASCIIGrid -raster- (rov): IGN France height correction ASCII Grid
XYZ -raster- (rwv): ASCII Gridded XYZ
HF2 -raster- (rwv): HF2/HFZ heightfield raster
OZI -raster- (rov): OziExplorer Image File
CTG -raster- (rov): USGS LULC Composite Theme Grid
E00GRID -raster- (rov): Arc/Info Export E00 GRID
ZMap -raster- (rwv): ZMap Plus Grid
NGSGEOID -raster- (rov): NOAA NGS Geoid Height Grids
IRIS -raster- (rov): IRIS data (.PPI, .CAPPi etc)
PRF -raster- (rov): Racurs PHOTOMOD PRF
RDA -raster- (ro): DigitalGlobe Raster Data Access driver
EEDAI -raster- (ros): Earth Engine Data API Image
DAAS -raster- (ro): Airbus DS Intelligence Data As A Service driver
SIGDEM -raster- (rwv): Scaled Integer Gridded DEM .sigdem
DB2ODBC -raster,vector- (rw+): IBM DB2 Spatial Database
GPKG -raster,vector- (rw+vs): GeoPackage
CAD -raster,vector- (rovs): AutoCAD Driver
PLSCENES -raster,vector- (ro): Planet Labs Scenes API
NGW -raster,vector- (rw+s): NextGIS Web
GenBin -raster- (rov): Generic Binary (.hdr Labelled)
ENVI -raster- (rw+v): ENVI .hdr Labelled
EHdr -raster- (rw+v): ESRI .hdr Labelled
ISCE -raster- (rw+v): ISCE raster
HTTP -raster,vector- (ro): HTTP Fetching Wrapper
13 Likes
Interesting article. At one time or another, I used many of those file formats. These days it’s all jpg, gif, and png files I work with.
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I will call your jpeg, and raise you tiff file.
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I remember encountering an old version of POV-Ray on a magazine coverdisk some 25 years ago that produced .TGA files. Also included was a program to convert TGAs to GIFs, as the authors were quite insistent that the PCs of the time would be unlikely to handle TGAs.
And I remember RIPscrip as well. RIPterm 1.54 was a pretty great little terminal program; Telegraphix really dropped the ball with version 2.0, especially since it adopted a new format that wasn’t backwards-compatible.
And I remember the fuss about JPEG2000 and MNG and APNG, each of which was surely going to be the wave of the future. (Remember all the campaigns at the time to “burn all GIFs”, on account of Compuserve’s patents?)
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The encyclopedia of graphics file formats was very useful-- I’ve consulted my copy many times over the years, when I needed to roll my own file format readers, (The last time I’ve messed about with such code was decoding the LAS/PAT format used by WildGinger’s sewing pattern designer programs. Never did figure out groups.)
Shame the book wasn’t updated.
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There was a “.nap” filetype? I need more naps in my life. I need this filetype.
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.sgi, .rgb, .rgba …
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What, no .neo?
Working on VRChat avatars and worlds (Unity engine) I was really shocked to find lots of .tga images being used.
So… not quite forgotten.
I do miss .iff files from the amiga though.
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Putting BMP in there is a tad provocative, too. There are many BMP files on my PC, still (majority seem to be icon files for GPX files - satnav stuff)
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The author’s source was this book:
which I’ve opened up to the Atari ST section. Enjoy.
I can’t tell whether this book is completely supplanted by wikipedia. This book explained how to decode and encode each of the formats, supplying the headers and tags as c structs, and if wikipedia has equivalent coverage of a broader range of file formats, then Murray’s book is obsolete, even for software archeologists.
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Probably not intended as a reply to me?
No, my mouse slipped.
But you could try to write a decoder and check all your bitmap files for consistency, or lack of same.
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I cooooould… but … hmmmmm. Nope!
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Ahh, IFF ILBM - an image format designed for when memory was so tight that you couldn’t afford to allocate an entire byte to a pixel’s value in the colour table. Genius.
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I feel like I still see TIFF on occasion. Certainly more recently than most of the others.
RIP was a real weird one. Let you get EGA-style graphics in your BBS door games, which was… good, I guess? I hadn’t thought about RIPTerm in quite a while before this.
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I have to say, quite a few of these are not only familiar, but some of these I wasn’t even aware they had fallen out of use.
Also, it’s kind of weird to talk about VRML as an image format, though since, well, it isn’t one. I remember when Mark Pesce gave a presentation about this cool new 3D web stuff they had come up with in '94, or thereabouts. I immediately thought, “Cool!” followed not too long thereafter by, “This is never going to take off, is it?” after spending some time playing around with it A fair amount of effort was spent trying to make it a thing. This whole “Metaverse” idea gives me flashbacks to that…
Seems like there’s a certain amount of driving trollies involved, perhaps, as some of these file formats continue to have the same sorts of (niche) uses they always did. (In fact, some of them may be more widely used in those niches than ever before.)
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.iff and .anim forever.
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