User guide

Table Of Contents

CHAPTER 2. USING GIMP 21

2.3.1 Supported Formats

The following table lists the formats supported by GIMP:

File Formats

Read Write

AA - ASCII Art N Y

AVI - Audio/Video Interleave Y Y

BMP - Bitmap Y Y

C - "C" Source N Y

CEL - CIMFast Event Language Y Y

FITS - Flexible Image Transport System Y Y

FLI - Autodesk FLIC Animation Y Y

GIF - Graphics Interchange Format

Y Y

H - "C" Header File N Y

HRZ - Slow Scan Television Y Y

HTML - Formatted Table N Y

JPEG - Joint Photographics Expert Group Y Y

MIFF - Magick Image File Format Y Y

MPEG - Motion Picture Expert Group Y N

PCX - PC Paintbrush Y Y

PIX - Inset Systems Bitmap Y Y

PNG - Portable Network Graphics Y Y

PNM - Portable Anymap Y Y

PSD - Photoshop Document Y N

PSP - Paint Shop Pro Y N

PS - PostScript Y Y

SGI - Silicon Graphics Y Y

Sunras - Sun Raster Y Y

TGA - Targa Bitmap Y Y

TIFF - Tagged Image File Format Y Y

WMF - Windows Meta File Y N

XBM - X Bitmap Y Y

XCF - GIMP Native Y Y

XWD - X Window Dump Y Y

XPM - X Pixmap Y Y

You need a license from Unisys to legally save ﬁles in this format.

2.3.2 What Format Should I Use?

When saving a ﬁle, you need to decide which ﬁle format to use. There are descriptions

of some important and popular formats below to help you choose the right one for your

images.

XCF: GIMP’s Native Format If you’re saving an image that’s not “ﬁnished” and intend

to continue working on the image in GIMP later, you should always save it as

XCF. XCF preserves all of your image’s layers, channels, and masks, as well as

your paths, guides, selections, and other important details.