Site hosted by Angelfire.com: Build your free website today!

File Format References

Extensible Markup Language

These Files are all based on the XML language.  Each format defines a set of tags that are used to communicate the appropriate data.

.GPX – XML based GPS Data

These files store GPS related data in an XML based file.

.LOC – Location GPS Data

These files store GPS related data in an XML based file.

.SVG – Scalable Vector Graphics

SVG is a XML based language for vector graphics.

.XML – Extensible Markup Language

Originally evolved from SGML and HTML, XML is a tag based hierarchal language used to store and describe text data.

.XMP – Extensible Metadata Platform

This is an XML file containing metadata, usually as a sidecar file to an image.  XMP data is normally embedded into JPEG, PSD and  TIFF files.

FAT Based Files

These files have a header which contains an allocation table (similar to a FAT).  The Data is stored into fixed size sectors and linked from the allocation table.

.DB

The thumbs.db file is used by windows to store thumbnail images for quick access while browsing.               

.DOC .VSD .XLS

These Microsoft Office files all use the FAT format to save data

.FPX – FlashPix

FlashPix is a file format used on select digital camera.  A version of  FlashPix called FlashPix Ready data can also be found embedded into the EXIF information in images such as JPEGs.

JPEG Image Format

The Joint Photography Experts Group developed JPEG as a compression algorithm and the JPEG Image Format (JIF) as its container.  It is most commonly used with photographs because they are more forgiving of JPEGs lossy compression.  The JPEG format uses markers to define the file.  More on the JPEG Image File can be found Here.

.JPG .JIF .JPEG –JPEG Image Format

This is the most common file format for pictures.

.JPS – Stereo JPEG

.JPS is a standard JPEG file with a single image created from two stereo images placed side-by-side.  The images are stored "cross-eyed", the 3D stereo left image is on the right of the JPEG image and the right image is stored on the left side.  The JPEG image is twice the width of the intended 3D image.

.MPO – Multi-Picture Output

This is a JPEG based file that is designed to store multiple images.  Typically it is used to store the Left and Right images of a 3D Stereo image.  It is also occasionally used to store multi-capture panoramas.  The MPO file uses a Multi-Picture Format (MPF) APP2 marker to store picture information in a TIFF styled format.

.THM – Thumbnail

This is a sidecar file, typically for a video.  It is a .JPG still image with metadata.

MPEG Streams

MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 formats

.MP3 – MP3 Audio File

These are the de-facto standard for compressed audio.  .MP3 files can contain two versions of ID3 metadata which can include images for album art.  .MP3 also supports APE tags for metadata.

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MP3

APE Metadata

  http://wiki.hydrogenaudio.org/index.php?title=APEv2_specification

.MPG – MPEG Movie

  http://dvd.sourceforge.net/dvdinfo/pes-hdr.html

  http://dvd.sourceforge.net/dvdinfo/mpeghdrs.html

.MTS .M2TS – MPEG-2 Transport Stream

This type of file is composed of a collection of MPEG-2 packets

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MPEG_transport_stream

Resource Interchange File Format

The Resource Interchange Format is a generic container format for storing data in chunks.

.AIFF – Audio Interchange File Format

AIFF is a little-endian alternate version of RIFF developed by Apple.

.ANI – Animation

.AVI – Audio Video Interleave

.RMI – RIFF MIDI

.SFL – SoundForge

.WAV – Waveform Audio File Format

Also known as Audio for Windows, this format is mainly used to record un-compressed audio.

.WEBP – WebP

Google created WebP to be a new format for compressed internet graphics to compete with PNG and JPEG.

QuickTime

QuickTime was developed by Apple, it is based on Atoms which contain data and other Atoms.  A QuickTime file can contain multiple tracks, which can be audio, video or data.  It is the basis for the ISO Base Media File Format which is the container for MPEG-4 and 3GP files.

.3G2 .3GP – 3GPP - Third Generation Partnership Project

These files were designed for 3G phones based on MPEG-4 (MP4) file format.  .3GP for GSM phone, .3G2 for CDMA phones.

.AAX – Audible Enhanced Audiobook

Audible.com's QuickTime derived format with Digital Rights Management (DRM).

.JP2 –JPEG 2000

This type of image file combines a ISO Base Media File with a JPEG marker based codestream.  JPEG2000 offers a newer method of compression, but is not compatible with standard JPEF (.JPG) files.

.M4A – MPEG-4 Audio File

This is a .MP4 file that just contains audio tracks.

.M4P – MPEG-4 Protected File

This is an extension of the .MP4 file which incorporates Apple's Digital Rights Management and also supports AC3 (Dolby Digital).

.M4V – MPEG-4 Video File

This is a .MP4 file that contains a video.

.MOV .QT – QuickTime

The original QuickTime format.  QuickTime is also the name of Apple's QuickTime File Format player software.

  http://developer.apple.com

  http://developer.apple.com  QuickTime Reference

.MP4 – MPEG-4 File

The .MP4 file is an ISO Base Media file used to store MPEG-4 compressed video and audio.

  http://www.mp4ra.org/specs.html

  http://atomicparsley.sourceforge.net/mpeg-4files.html

Tagged Image File Format

TIFF is a very  extensible image format created by Adobe.  It supports various image and compression formats as well as multiple images and data within one file using its Image File Directory (IFD) structure.

.CR2 – Canon Raw File

.CR2 is the RAW file used in Canon dSLR cameras.

.DNG – Digital Negative

This is a format created by Adobe to be used as a RAW image format.

.EXIF - Exchangeable Image File Format

.EXIF files are typically used as sidecar which store metadata for an image.  EXIF data can also be stored in JPEG, TIFF, WAV and other file formats.

.NEF - Nikon Electronic Format

This is Nikon’s RAW file format. 

.TIF  – Tagged Image File Format

TIFF’s structure is based on groups of tags that link to various types of data.  Adobe provides the standard listing of tag numbers and the tags themselves describe the data that accompanies them.

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tag_Image_File_Format_/_Electronic_Photography

ZIP Compressed Files

These files are based on the PK-Zip format.  Originally designed to store compressed files, they can also store compressed data.  It uses a directory structure where the directory contains offsets to each file.

.ZIP – Compressed Files

These are the original PK-Zip format.  They support file compression, as well as backup across multiple diskettes.

.XLSX .XPS .DOCX .PPTX – Compressed Microsoft Office Files

These files store XML and other data in a ZIP format.

.ODP .ODT .ODS .ODB .ODG .ODF - OpenDocument Files

Other Formats

.BMP - Bitmap File

These files store raster images, typically uncompressed.  Several different levels of color depth are available from monochrome to 32-bpp.

.CT .SCT – Scitex Continuous Tone

Continuous Tone files used on non-binary digital printing equipment.

.EMF – Enhanced MetaFile

.EPS – Encapsulated PostScript

.GIF – Graphics Interchange Format

These files use lossless compression and limited color palette to provide small file sizes suitable for web graphics.  The GIF format also supports animations and transparency.

.ICO .CUR – Icon and Cursor Bitmaps

This bitmap formats are used to store icons and cursors used in Microsoft Windows.  This format can contain multiple versions of the same image. 

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ICO_(file_format)

.ICC – International Color Consortium

This type of file stores color conversion information.  ICC data is also embedded into some types of images including JPEG, TIFF and PSD files.

.INI .INF – Initialization and Information Configuration Files

These files store configuration data for various programs.

.PCL – Printer Control Language

  http://www.sxlist.com/techref/language/pcls.htm

.PCX – PC Exchange Format

.PJL – Printer Job Language

This is a native language developed for Hewlett-Packard printers.  PJL supports the coordination of multiple command languages.

.PNG – Portable Network Graphics

PNG files were designed as a replacement for GIF files.
This is the type of file created by USA Trippin' PhotoMAP Creator

.PNS – Stereo Portable Network graphics

This file contains a single PNG graphic who’s left half is the left stereo image and right half is the right image.

.PSD – Photoshop Document

  http://www.adobe.com Photoshop FileFormats

.RTF – Rich Text Format

.TGA – Truevision Graphics Adapter

.WMF – Windows MetaFile

 

Other

  http://www.digitalpreservation.gov/formats/fdd/browse_list.shtml

  http://www.koders.com/c/fid351EA970CCFE589F138783626B9F31B34FBA7C63.aspx