Image Formats
What is AVIF (AV1 Image File Format)?
Complete guide to the AVIF file format
What is BMP?
BMP (Bitmap) is an uncompressed raster image format developed by Microsoft that stores each pixel's color data directly, resulting in large files but perfect quality with no compression artifacts.
What is CR2?
Complete guide to the CR2 file format
What is DNG (Digital Negative)?
Complete guide to the DNG file format
What is EPS (Encapsulated PostScript)?
Complete guide to the EPS file format
What is GIF?
GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) is a bitmap image format that supports animation and is limited to 256 colors, making it the long-standing standard for short looping animations on the web.
What is HEIC?
HEIC (High Efficiency Image Container) is a modern image format developed by Apple that uses HEVC compression to store photos at roughly half the file size of JPG while maintaining superior image quality.
What is ICO?
ICO (Icon) is a Windows image format that stores multiple sizes and color depths of a single icon in one file, primarily used for application icons and website favicons.
What is JPEG?
Complete guide to the JPEG file format
What is JPG (JPEG)?
JPG (JPEG) is a lossy image compression format developed in 1992, widely used for photographs and web images due to its excellent balance of quality and small file size.
What is JXL (JPEG XL)?
Complete guide to the JXL file format
What is NEF?
Complete guide to the NEF file format
What is PNG?
PNG (Portable Network Graphics) is a lossless image format that supports transparency, making it ideal for graphics, logos, and web images that require sharp edges and pixel-perfect quality.
What is PSD (Photoshop Document)?
Complete guide to the PSD file format
What is RAW Image?
Complete guide to the RAW file format
What is SVG?
SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) is an XML-based vector image format that describes graphics using mathematical shapes rather than pixels, allowing infinite scaling without any loss of quality.
What is TGA (Truevision TGA)?
Complete guide to the TGA file format
What is TIFF?
TIFF (Tagged Image File Format) is a flexible lossless image format widely used in professional photography, printing, and archival work due to its support for high bit-depth, layers, and multiple compression methods.
What is WebP?
WebP is a modern image format developed by Google that provides superior lossless and lossy compression for web images, producing files 25-35% smaller than comparable JPG or PNG files.
What is CDR? CorelDRAW File Format Explained
Corel's proprietary native vector graphics format for the CorelDRAW illustration suite.
What is DDS? DirectDraw Surface Texture Format Explained
Complete guide to the DDS file format
What is EMF? Enhanced Metafile Format Explained
Microsoft's 32-bit, device-independent successor to WMF for Windows vector graphics.
What is EXR? OpenEXR High Dynamic Range Format Explained
Complete guide to the EXR file format
What is HDR (Radiance)? RGBE High Dynamic Range Format Explained
Complete guide to the HDR file format
What is JFIF? JPEG File Interchange Format Explained
Complete guide to the JFIF file format
What is JP2? JPEG 2000 Image Format Explained
Complete guide to the JP2 file format
What is PBM? Portable Bitmap Format Explained
Complete guide to the PBM file format
What is PCX? PiCture eXchange Format Explained
Complete guide to the PCX file format
What is PGM? Portable Graymap Format Explained
The grayscale member of the Netpbm family, storing simple uncompressed gray-level images.
What is PICT? Apple QuickDraw Picture Format Explained
The classic Macintosh metafile format built on Apple's QuickDraw drawing commands.
What is PNM? Netpbm Portable Anymap Format Explained
The Netpbm family of simple, portable PBM, PGM and PPM image formats.
What is PPM? Portable Pixmap Format Explained
The full-color member of the Netpbm family, storing simple uncompressed RGB images.
What is RAS? Sun Raster Image Format Explained
The native raster bitmap format of Sun Microsystems SunOS workstations from the 1980s.
What is SGI? Silicon Graphics Image Format Explained
Complete guide to the SGI file format
What is WBMP? Wireless Bitmap Format Explained
A monochrome 1-bit image format created by the WAP Forum for early mobile and WAP devices.
What is WMF? Windows Metafile Format Explained
Complete guide to the WMF file format
What is XBM? X BitMap Format Explained
A monochrome X Window System bitmap format stored as compilable C source code.
What is XPM? X PixMap Format Explained
A color X Window System icon format storing pixmaps as C-compatible ASCII text.
Video Formats
What is 3GP (Third Generation Partnership)?
Complete guide to the 3GP file format
What is AV1?
AV1 is a modern open-source video codec by the Alliance for Open Media that delivers superior compression vs H.264 and H.265, ideal for streaming.
What is AVI?
AVI (Audio Video Interleave) is a Windows multimedia container format developed by Microsoft in 1992 that can hold video and audio encoded with various codecs in a single file.
What is DivX?
DivX is a video codec popular in the early 2000s for compressing DVD-quality video into small files for internet sharing.
What is FLV (Flash Video)?
Complete guide to the FLV file format
What is HEVC (H.265)?
Complete guide to the HEVC file format
What is M4V (iTunes Video)?
Complete guide to the M4V file format
What is MKV?
MKV (Matroska Video) is an open-source video container format that can hold unlimited audio tracks, subtitle tracks, and video streams in a single file, making it the most feature-rich format for storing movies and TV shows.
What is MOV?
MOV is Apple's QuickTime video container format that stores high-quality video, audio, and effects in a flexible track-based structure, widely used in professional video production on Mac.
What is MP4?
MP4 (MPEG-4 Part 14) is a digital multimedia container format most commonly used to store video and audio, but which can also store subtitles, images, and other data.
What is MPEG?
Complete guide to the MPEG file format
What is OGV?
Complete guide to the OGV file format
What is RealMedia?
RealMedia (.rm) is a multimedia container format developed by RealNetworks for internet streaming in the late 1990s and 2000s.
What is SWF (Flash)?
SWF (Shockwave Flash) is an Adobe multimedia format for web animations and games. Flash was discontinued in 2020 and is no longer supported by modern browsers.
What is TS (MPEG Transport Stream)?
Complete guide to the TS file format
What is VOB?
Complete guide to the VOB file format
What is WebM?
WebM is an open-source web video format developed by Google that uses VP8/VP9 or AV1 video codecs with Vorbis or Opus audio, designed specifically for efficient HTML5 video streaming without licensing fees.
What is WMV (Windows Media Video)?
Complete guide to the WMV file format
What is ASF? Advanced Systems Format Explained
Microsoft's streaming-oriented container for Windows Media Audio and Video.
What is F4V? Flash MP4 Video Format Explained
Adobe's ISO base media file format for H.264 video delivered via Flash Player.
What is M2TS? Blu-ray BDAV Transport Stream Explained
The Blu-ray and AVCHD container based on a modified MPEG-2 transport stream.
What is M2V? MPEG-2 Video Stream Explained
A raw, video-only MPEG-2 elementary stream used in DVD authoring and editing.
What is MPG? MPEG-1/2 Video Format Explained
A classic digital video file using the standardized MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 compression.
What is MTS? AVCHD Camcorder Video Format Explained
The on-camera AVCHD transport-stream file recorded by HD camcorders.
What is MXF? Material Exchange Format Explained
A professional SMPTE container for broadcast and digital cinema media plus rich metadata.
What is RMVB? RealMedia Variable Bitrate Explained
A variable-bitrate RealMedia video format once popular for compact downloads.
What is Xvid? MPEG-4 ASP Video Codec Explained
An open-source MPEG-4 ASP video codec popular in the AVI file-sharing era.
Audio Formats
What is AAC?
AAC (Advanced Audio Coding) is a lossy audio compression format designed as the successor to MP3, offering better sound quality at the same or smaller file size and used as the standard audio format by Apple, YouTube, and most streaming services.
What is AC3?
Complete guide to the AC3 file format
What is AIFF (Audio Interchange File Format)?
Complete guide to the AIFF file format
What is ALAC?
Complete guide to the ALAC file format
What is AMR (Adaptive Multi-Rate)?
Complete guide to the AMR file format
What is APE?
Complete guide to the APE file format
What is FLAC?
FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) is an open-source audio format that compresses audio without any quality loss, preserving the exact original audio data while reducing file size by 40-60% compared to uncompressed WAV.
What is M4A (MPEG-4 Audio)?
Complete guide to the M4A file format
What is MIDI?
Complete guide to the MID file format
What is MP3?
MP3 (MPEG-1 Audio Layer III) is a lossy audio compression format that reduces file size by removing sounds the human ear is least likely to notice, achieving 10:1 compression ratios with near-CD quality.
What is OGG?
OGG (Ogg Vorbis) is a free, open-source audio compression format that provides comparable quality to MP3 at similar or smaller file sizes without any patent restrictions, widely used in games and open-source applications.
What is Opus Audio?
Complete guide to the OPUS file format
What is WAV?
WAV (Waveform Audio File Format) is an uncompressed audio format developed by Microsoft and IBM that stores raw audio data, providing perfect quality at the cost of very large file sizes.
What is WMA (Windows Media Audio)?
Complete guide to the WMA file format
What is AU? Sun Audio Format Explained
Complete guide to the AU file format
What is CAF? Apple Core Audio Format Explained
Apple's extensible, 64-bit container for high-resolution and very long audio recordings.
What is M4R? iPhone Ringtone Format Explained
Apple's AAC-based ringtone file, structurally an M4A with a distinct extension.
What is MKA? Matroska Audio Format Explained
Complete guide to the MKA file format
What is RA? RealAudio Format Explained
RealNetworks' pioneering streaming audio format for low-bandwidth internet delivery.
What is SPX? Speex Audio Format Explained
Xiph.Org's open, patent-free speech codec for voice and VoIP, now superseded by Opus.
What is TTA? True Audio Lossless Format Explained
An open, real-time lossless audio codec for compact, bit-perfect archival.
What is VOC? Creative Voice File Explained
Creative Technology's block-based audio format for Sound Blaster cards in the DOS era.
What is WV? WavPack Audio Format Explained
An open audio format offering lossless, lossy, and a unique hybrid compression mode.
Document Formats
What is CSV?
CSV (Comma-Separated Values) is a plain text format that stores tabular data as rows of values separated by commas, making it the most universal format for exchanging spreadsheet and database data between applications.
What is DOC?
Complete guide to the DOC file format
What is DOCX (Microsoft Word)?
Complete guide to the DOCX file format
What is EPUB?
EPUB (Electronic Publication) is an open ebook format based on HTML and CSS that allows text to reflow and adapt to different screen sizes, making it the standard format for digital books across most e-readers.
What is HTML?
Complete guide to the HTML file format
What is Markdown?
Complete guide to the MD file format
What is PDF?
PDF (Portable Document Format) is a file format developed by Adobe that presents documents with text, images, and formatting in a way that is independent of hardware, software, and operating systems.
What is PPT?
Complete guide to the PPT file format
What is PPTX (Microsoft PowerPoint)?
Complete guide to the PPTX file format
What is RTF (Rich Text Format)?
Complete guide to the RTF file format
What is TXT (Plain Text)?
Complete guide to the TXT file format
What is XLS?
Complete guide to the XLS file format
What is XLSX (Microsoft Excel)?
Complete guide to the XLSX file format
What is AZW3? Kindle Format 8 (KF8) Explained
Amazon's Kindle Format 8 ebook format with HTML5 and CSS3 support.
What is DJVU? DjVu Document Image Format Explained
Complete guide to the DJVU file format
What is DOCM? Macro-Enabled Word Document Explained
DOCM is a macro-enabled Microsoft Word document based on the Office Open XML format.
What is DOT? Word Template (Legacy) Explained
Complete guide to the DOT file format
What is DOTX? Word Open XML Template Explained
Complete guide to the DOTX file format
What is FB2? FictionBook Ebook Format Explained
An open XML-based ebook format that describes a book's structure, not its layout.
What is KEY? Apple Keynote Presentation Format Explained
KEY is the native presentation format of Apple's Keynote application in the iWork suite.
What is Markdown? The .md Plain-Text Format Explained
A lightweight plain-text markup language that converts easily to HTML.
What is ODP? OpenDocument Presentation Format Explained
ODP is the open, XML-based presentation format used by LibreOffice Impress and OpenOffice.
What is ODT? OpenDocument Text Format Explained
Complete guide to the ODT file format
What is OXPS? OpenXPS Document Format Explained
Complete guide to the OXPS file format
What is PAGES? Apple Pages Document Format Explained
PAGES is the native document format of Apple's Pages word processor in the iWork suite.
What is POT? PowerPoint Template (Legacy) Explained
Complete guide to the POT file format
What is POTX? PowerPoint Open XML Template Explained
Complete guide to the POTX file format
What is PPS? PowerPoint Slide Show (Legacy) Explained
Complete guide to the PPS file format
What is PPSX? PowerPoint Open XML Slide Show Explained
Complete guide to the PPSX file format
What is PPTM? Macro-Enabled PowerPoint Explained
Complete guide to the PPTM file format
What is PRC? Palm/Mobipocket Ebook Format Explained
A Palm-database container used by Mobipocket and PalmDOC ebooks.
What is TCR? Psion Compressed Ebook Format Explained
A simple compressed plain-text ebook format from the Psion palmtop era.
What is XPS? XML Paper Specification Explained
Complete guide to the XPS file format
Archive Formats
What is 7Z (7-Zip Archive)?
Complete guide to the 7Z file format
What is BZ2 (Bzip2)?
Complete guide to the BZ2 file format
What is GZ (Gzip)?
Complete guide to the GZ file format
What is ISO?
Complete guide to the ISO file format
What is RAR Archive?
Complete guide to the RAR file format
What is TAR?
Complete guide to the TAR file format
What is XZ?
Complete guide to the XZ file format
What is ZIP Archive?
Complete guide to the ZIP file format
What is CAB? Windows Cabinet Archive Format Explained
Complete guide to the CAB file format
What is CPIO? Unix Copy In, Copy Out Archive Format Explained
A classic Unix archive format that streams files together with their metadata.
What is DEB? The Debian Software Package Format Explained
The native package format for Debian and Debian-based Linux distributions.
What is JAR? The Java Archive File Format Explained
A ZIP-based package that bundles Java classes, resources, and metadata into one file.
What is LHA? LZH Compression and Archive Format Explained
A 1980s freeware compression format and utility once popular in Japan and DOS gaming.
What is RPM? The Red Hat Package Manager Format Explained
The native package format for Red Hat, Fedora, SUSE, and related Linux distributions.
What is TGZ?
A gzip-compressed tar archive that bundles files and then shrinks them in one stream.
Other Formats
What is AI (Adobe Illustrator)?
Complete guide to the AI file format
What is HEIF?
Complete guide to the HEIF file format
What is CUR? Windows Cursor File Format Explained
Complete guide to the CUR file format
What is EOT? The Embedded OpenType Web Font Format Explained
Microsoft's legacy web font format for embedding TrueType and OpenType fonts in web pages.
What is OTF? OpenType Font Format Explained
A cross-platform font format by Microsoft and Adobe supporting advanced typography.
What is PFB? The PostScript Type 1 Binary Font Format Explained
Adobe's binary container for PostScript Type 1 outline fonts.
What is PS? PostScript File Format Explained
Complete guide to the PS file format
What is TTF? TrueType Font Format Explained
An outline font standard developed by Apple, widely used for system and document fonts.
What is WOFF? Web Open Font Format Explained
A W3C web font format that wraps and compresses TrueType or OpenType fonts.
What is WOFF2? Web Open Font Format 2.0 Explained
A W3C web font format using Brotli compression for the smallest font downloads.