# Supported Formats

Ratings legend and definitions

Format | Extensions |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
--- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | ---
3i SlideBook | .sld |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
3i SlideBook 7 | .sldy |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Andor Bio-Imaging Division (ABD) TIFF | .tif |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
AIM | .aim |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Alicona 3D | .al3d |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Amersham Biosciences Gel | .gel |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Amira Mesh | .am, .amiramesh, .grey, .hx, .labels |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Amnis FlowSight | .cif |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Analyze 7.5 | .img, .hdr |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Andor SIF | .sif |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Animated PNG | .png |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Aperio AFI | .afi, .svs |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Aperio SVS TIFF | .svs |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Applied Precision CellWorX | .htd, .pnl |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
AVI (Audio Video Interleave) | .avi |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Axon Raw Format | .arf |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
BD Pathway | .exp, .tif |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Becker & Hickl SPC FIFO | .spc |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Becker & Hickl SPCImage | .sdt |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Big Data Viewer | .xml, .h5 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Bio-Rad Gel | .1sc |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Bio-Rad PIC | .pic, .raw, .xml |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Bio-Rad SCN | .scn |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Bitplane Imaris | .ims |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Bruker MRI |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Burleigh | .img |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Canon DNG | .cr2, .crw |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
CellH5 | .ch5 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Cellomics | .c01, .dib |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
cellSens VSI | .vsi |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
CellVoyager | .xml, .tif |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
CV7000 | .wpi, .tif |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
DeltaVision | .dv, .r3d, .rcpnl |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
DICOM | .dcm, .dicom |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
ECAT7 | .v |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
EPS (Encapsulated PostScript) | .eps, .epsi, .ps |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Evotec/PerkinElmer Opera Flex | .flex, .mea, .res |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
FEI | .img |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
FEI TIFF | .tiff |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
FITS (Flexible Image Transport System) | .fits |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Gatan Digital Micrograph | .dm3, .dm4 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Gatan Digital Micrograph 2 | .dm2 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
GE MicroCT | .vff |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) | .gif |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Hamamatsu Aquacosmos NAF | .naf |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Hamamatsu DCIMG | .dcimg |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Hamamatsu HIS | .his |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Hamamatsu ndpi | .ndpi, .ndpis |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Hamamatsu VMS | .vms |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Hitachi S-4800 | .txt, .tif, .bmp, .jpg |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
I2I | .i2i |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
ICS (Image Cytometry Standard) | .ics, .ids |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Imacon | .fff |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
ImagePro Sequence | .seq |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
ImagePro Workspace | .ipw |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
IMAGIC | .hed, .img |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
IMOD | .mod |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Improvision Openlab LIFF | .liff |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Improvision Openlab Raw | .raw |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Improvision TIFF | .tif |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Imspector OBF | .obf, .msr |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
InCell 1000/2000 | .xdce, .tif |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
InCell 3000 | .frm |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
INR | .inr |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Inveon | .hdr |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Ionpath MIBI | .tif, .tiff |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
IPLab | .ipl |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
IVision | .ipm |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
JDCE | .jdce, .tif |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
JEOL | .dat, .img, .par |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
JPEG | .jpg |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
JPEG 2000 | .jp2, .j2k, .jpf |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
JPK | .jpk |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
JPX | .jpx |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Keller Lab Block | .klb |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Khoros VIFF (Visualization Image File Format) Bitmap | .xv |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Kodak BIP | .bip |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Lambert Instruments FLIM | .fli |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
LaVision Imspector | .msr |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Leica LCS LEI | .lei, .tif |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Leica LAS AF LIF (Leica Image File Format) | .lif |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Leica LOF | .lof |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Leica SCN | .scn |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Leica XLEF | .xlef |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
LEO | .sxm, .tif, .tiff |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Li-Cor L2D | .l2d, .tif, .scn |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
LIM (Laboratory Imaging/Nikon) | .lim |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
MetaMorph 7.5 TIFF | .tiff |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
MetaMorph Stack (STK) | .stk, .nd |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
MetaXpress | .htd, .tif, .tiff |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
MIAS (Maia Scientific) | .tif |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Micro-Manager | .tif, .txt, .xml |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Mikroscan TIFF | .tif, .tiff |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
MINC MRI | .mnc |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Minolta MRW | .mrw |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
MNG (Multiple-image Network Graphics) | .mng |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Molecular Imaging | .stp |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
MRC (Medical Research Council) | .mrc, .st, .ali, .map, .rec, .mrcs |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
NEF (Nikon Electronic Format) | .nef, .tif |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
NIfTI | .img, .hdr, .nii, .nii.gz |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Nikon Elements TIFF | .tiff |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Nikon EZ-C1 TIFF | .tiff |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Nikon NIS-Elements ND2 | .nd2 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
NRRD (Nearly Raw Raster Data) | .nrrd, .nhdr, .raw, .txt |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Olympus CellR/APL | .apl, .mtb, .tnb, .tif, .obsep |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Olympus FluoView FV1000 | .oib, .oif |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Olympus FluoView TIFF | .tif |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Olympus OIR | .oir |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Olympus OMP2INFO | .omp2info |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Olympus ScanR | .xml, .dat, .tif |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Olympus SIS TIFF | .tiff |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
OME-TIFF | .ome.tiff, .ome.tif, .ome.tf2, .ome.tf8, .ome.btf |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
OME-XML | .ome, .ome.xml |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
OMERO Pyramid |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Oxford Instruments | .top |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
PCORAW | .pcoraw, .rec |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
PCX (PC Paintbrush) | .pcx |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Perkin Elmer Densitometer | .pds |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
PerkinElmer Columbus | .xml, .csv, .tif |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
PerkinElmer Nuance | .im3 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
PerkinElmer Operetta | .tiff, .xml |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
PerkinElmer UltraVIEW | .tif, .2, .3, .4, etc. |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Portable Any Map | .pbm, .pgm, .ppm |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Adobe Photoshop PSD | .psd |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Photoshop TIFF | .tif, .tiff |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
PicoQuant Bin | .bin |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
PICT (Macintosh Picture) | .pict |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
PNG (Portable Network Graphics) | .png |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Prairie Technologies TIFF | .tif, .xml, .cfg |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Princeton Instruments SPE | .spe |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Quesant | .afm |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
QuickTime Movie | .mov |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
RHK | .sm2, .sm3 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
SBIG |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Seiko | .xqd, .xqf |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
SimplePCI & HCImage | .cxd |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
SimplePCI & HCImage TIFF | .tiff |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
SM Camera |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
SPIDER | .spi, .stk |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Targa | .tga |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Tecan Spark Cyto Workspace | .db, .tif |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Text | .txt |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
TIFF (Tagged Image File Format) | .tiff, .tif, .tf2, .tf8, .btf |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
TillPhotonics TillVision | .vws |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
TissueGnostics TFCYTO | .tfcyto, .aqproj |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Topometrix | .tfr, .ffr, .zfr, .zfp, .2fl |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Trestle | .tif, .sld, .jpg |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
UBM | .pr3 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Unisoku | .dat, .hdr |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Varian FDF | .fdf |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Vectra QPTIFF | .tif, .qptiff |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Veeco AFM | .hdf |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Ventana BIF | .bif |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
VG SAM | .dti |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
VisiTech XYS | .xys, .html |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Volocity | .mvd2 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Volocity Library Clipping | .acff |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
WA-TOP | .wat |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Windows Bitmap | .bmp |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Zeiss Axio CSM | .lms |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Zeiss AxioVision TIFF | .xml, .tif |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Zeiss AxioVision ZVI (Zeiss Vision Image) | .zvi |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Zeiss CZI | .czi |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Zeiss LSM (Laser Scanning Microscope) 510/710 | .lsm, .mdb |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Zeiss XRM | .txm, .txrm |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |

Bio-Formats currently supports 165 formats

Ratings legend and definitions

  | Outstanding
  | Very good
  | Good
  | Fair
  | Poor

Pixels

  Our estimation of Bio-Formats’ ability to reliably extract complete and accurate pixel values from files in that format. The better this score, the more confident we are that Bio-Formats will successfully read your file without displaying an error message or displaying an erroneous image.

Metadata

  Our certainty in the thoroughness and correctness of Bio-Formats’ metadata extraction and conversion from files of that format into standard OME-XML. The better this score, the more confident we are that all meaningful metadata will be parsed and populated as OME-XML.

Openness

  This is not a direct expression of Bio-Formats’ performance, but rather indicates the level of cooperation the format’s controlling interest has demonstrated toward the scientific community with respect to the format. The better this score, the more tools (specification documents, source code, sample files, etc.) have been made available.

Presence

  This is also not directly related to Bio-Formats, but instead represents our understanding of the format’s popularity, and is also as a measure of compatibility between applications. The better this score, the more common the format and the more software packages include support for it.

Utility

  Our opinion of the format’s suitability for storing metadata-rich microscopy image data. The better this score, the wider the variety of information that can be effectively stored in the format.

Export

  This indicates whether Bio-Formats is capable of writing the format (Bio-Formats can read every format on this list).

BSD

  This indicates whether format is BSD-licensed. By default, format readers and writers are GPL-licensed.

Multiple Images

  This indicates whether the format can store multiple Images (in OME-XML terminology) or series (in Bio-Formats API terminology).

Pyramid

  This indicates whether the format can store a single image at multiple resolutions, typically referred to as an image pyramid.