Sustainability of Digital Formats: Planning for Library of Congress Collections

• Adobe Photoshop Family (PSD, PSB)
• Adobe_Photoshop_Family, Adobe Photoshop File Format Family
• ADRG
• ADRG, Arc Digitized Raster Graphic (ADRG)
• Apple ProRAW
• Apple_ProRAW, Apple ProRAW
• ARW
• See CAM_RAW, Camera Raw Formats (Group Description)
• AVIF
• AVIF, AV1 Image File Format
• BigTIFF
• BigTIFF, BigTIFF
• BIIF
• BIIF, Basic Image Interchange Format
• BIL
• BIL_enc, Band Interleaved by Line (BIL) Encoding
• BIL_file, Band Interleaved by Line (BIL) Image File
• BIP
• BIP_enc, Band Interleaved by Pixel (BIP) Encoding
• BIP_file, Band Interleaved by Pixel (BIP) Image File
• BMP
• BMP_5, Bitmap Image File (BMP), Version 5
• BSQ
• BSQ_enc, Band Sequential (BSQ) Encoding
• BSQ_file, Band SeQuential (BSQ) Image File
• CAM_RAW
• CAM_RAW, Camera Raw Formats (Group Description)
• CAP
• See CAM_RAW, Camera Raw Formats (Group Description)
• CAPTURE
• See CAM_RAW, Camera Raw Formats (Group Description)
• CGM
• CGM Family, Computer Graphics Metafile (CGM) File Format Family
• CPC
• CPC, Cartesian Perceptual Compression Encoding (CPC)
• CR2
• CR2 included in CAM_RAW, Camera Raw Formats (Group Description)
• CRW
• CRW included in CAM_RAW, Camera Raw Formats (Group Description)
• DCR
• DCR included in CAM_RAW, Camera Raw Formats (Group Description)
• DNG
• DNG_1_1, Adobe Digital Negative (DNG), Version 1.1
• DNG_1_6, Adobe Digital Negative (DNG), Version 1.6
• DOQ
• DOQ, Digital Orthophotos (DOQ & DOQQ)
• DRG
• DRG_as_TIFF, Digital Raster Graphic as TIFF
• DWG
• DWG Family, DWG (AutoCAD Drawing) Format Family
• DXF
• DXF ASCII Family, DXF (AutoCAD Drawing Interchange Format) Family, ASCII variant
• EPS (Encapsulated PostScript)
• EPS_3, Encapsulated PostScript (EPS) File Format, Version 3.x
• FITS (Flexible Image Transport System)
• FITS_3, FITS, Version 3.0
• GeoTIFF
• GeoTIFF, GeoTIFF Revision 1.0
• GIF
• GIF_89a, Graphics Interchange Format, Version 89a
• GML
• GMLJP2, GML in JPEG 2000 for Geographic Imagery
• HD Photo
• WMP_1_0, HD Photo, Version 1.0 (Windows Media Photo)
• HEIF, High Efficiency Image File Format
• HEIF, High Efficiency Image File Format, MPEG-H Part 12
• HEIF_HEIC, High Efficiency Image File (HEIF) Format, HEIC/HEIX brands
• HTJ2K
• HTJ2K, JPEG 2000 Part 15, High Throughput (HTJ2K) Encoding
• JPH_FF, High-Throughput JPEG 2000 File Format
• IIQ
• See CAM_RAW, Camera Raw Formats (Group Description)
• ITU_G4
• ITU_G4, ITU-T Group 4 FAX Compression
• JPEG
• JPEG, JPEG Image Encoding Family
• JPEG_DCT_BL, JPEG DCT Compression Encoding, Baseline
• JPEG_DCT_PRG, JPEG DCT Compression Encoding, Progressive
• JPEG_DCT_EXT, JPEG DCT Compression Encoding, Extensions
• JPEG_orig_LL, JPEG Original Lossless Compression (ISO/IEC 10918)
• JPEG-LS, JPEG Lossless Compression(ISO/IEC 14995)
• JFIF_1_02, JPEG File Interchange Format, Version 1.02
• JFIF_Family, JPEG File Interchange Format Family
• SPIFF, Still Picture Interchange Format
• JPEG_EXIF, JPEG Encoded File with Exif Metadata
• JPEG 2000 Encodings
• J2K_C, JPEG 2000 Part 1, Core Coding System
• J2K_C_LL, JPEG 2000 Part 1, Core Coding, Lossless Compression
• J2K_C_LSY, JPEG 2000 Part 1, Core Coding, Lossy Compression
• J2K_C_Profile_0, JPEG 2000 Part 1, Core Coding, Profile 0
• J2K_C_Profile_1, JPEG 2000 Part 1, Core Coding, Profile 1
• J2K_C_Profile_3, JPEG 2000 Part 1, Core Coding, Profile 3
• J2K_C_Profile_4, JPEG 2000 Part 1, Core Coding, Profile 4
• J2K_C_BIIF_01_00, JPEG 2000 Part 1, Core Coding, BIIF Profile (v. 01.00)
• J2K_C_NDNP, JPEG 2000 Part 1, Core Coding, NDNP Profile
• J2K_EXT, JPEG 2000 Part 2, Coding Extensions
• See HTJ2K, JPEG 2000 Part 15, High Throughput (HTJ2K) Encoding
• JPEG 2000 File Formats
• JP2_FF, JPEG 2000 Part 1 (Core) jp2 File Format
• JPX_FF, JPEG 2000 Part 2 (Extensions) jpf File Format
• JPM_FF, JPEG 2000 Part 6 (Compound) jpm File Format
• See JPH_FF, High-Throughput JPEG 2000 File Format
• JPEG 2000 File Formats with Encoded Bitstreams
• JP2_J2K_C_LL, JP2 File Format with JPEG 2000 Core Coding, Lossless
• JP2_J2K_C_LSY, JP2 File Format with JPEG 2000 Core Coding, Lossy
• JP2_J2K_C_Profile_0, JP2 File Format with JPEG 2000 Core Coding, Profile 0
• JP2_J2K_C_Profile_1, JP2 File Format with JPEG 2000 Core Coding, Profile 1
• JP2_J2K_C_Profile_3, JP2 File Format with JPEG 2000 Core Coding, Profile 3
• JP2_J2K_C_Profile_4, JP2 File Format with JPEG 2000 Core Coding, Profile 4
• JP2_J2K_C_BIFF_01_00, JP2 File Format with JPEG 2000 Core Coding, BIIF Profile (v. 01.00)
• JP2_J2K_C_NDNP, JP2 File Format with JPEG 2000 Core Coding, NDNP Profile
• JPEG XL
• JPEG_XL, JPEG XL Image Encoding
• JXL, JPEG XL File Format
• JPEG XR
• JPEG_XR, JPEG XR Image Encoding
• JXR, JPEG XR File Format
• JPEG XS
• JXS, JPEG XS File Format
• KDC
• KDC included in CAM_RAW, Camera Raw Formats (Group Description)
• MrSID
• MrSID_MG2, MrSID Image Format, Generation 2
• MrSID_MG3, MrSID Image Format, Generation 3
• MRW
• MRW included in CAM_RAW, Camera Raw Formats (Group Description)
• NEF
• NEF included in CAM_RAW, Camera Raw Formats (Group Description)
• ODC
• ODF_chart_1_2, OpenDocument Chart Format (ODC), Version 1.2, ISO/IEC 26300-1:2015
• ODF
• ODF_draw_1_2, OpenDocument Drawing Format (ODG), Version 1.2, ISO/IEC 26300-1:2015
• ODF_chart_1_2, OpenDocument Chart Format (ODC), Version 1.2, ISO/IEC 26300-1:2015
• ODG
• ODF_draw_1_2, OpenDocument Drawing Format (ODG), Version 1.2, ISO/IEC 26300-1:2015
• ORF
• ORF included in CAM_RAW, Camera Raw Formats (Group Description)
• PCX
• PCX, PiCture eXchange
• PDF/R
• PDF/R-1, PDF for Raster Image Transport and Storage. Based on PDF 1.4-1.7 (ISO 32000-1)
• PDF/R-1_enc, PDF for Raster Image Transport and Storage. Encrypted, based on PDF 2.0 (ISO 32000-2)
• PDF/X
• PDF/X_family, PDF/X Format Family (PDF for Prepress Graphics File Exchange)
• PEF
• PEF included in CAM_RAW, Camera Raw Formats (Group Description)
• PNG
• PNG, Portable Network Graphics
• PostScript
• EPS_3, Encapsulated PostScript (EPS) File Format, Version 3.x
• PostScript_family, PostScript Format Family
• PSB (Adobe Photoshop Large Document)
• Adobe_Photoshop_Family, Adobe Photoshop File Format Family
• PSD (Adobe Photoshop Document)
• Adobe_Photoshop_Family, Adobe Photoshop File Format Family
• PTM
• PTM, Polynomial Texture Map (PTM) File Format
• RAF
• RAF included in CAM_RAW, Camera Raw Formats (Group Description)
• RPF
• RPF, Raster Product Format
• RTI
• RTI, Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI) File Format
• SPIFF
• SPIFF, Still Picture Interchange Format
• SRF
• SRF included in CAM_RAW, Camera Raw Formats (Group Description)
• SVG
• SVG_family, Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) File Format Family
• SVG_1_1, Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG), Version 1.1
• SVG_Tiny_1_2, Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) Tiny, Version 1.2
• SVG_2, Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG), Version 2
• TGA
• TGA_1, Truevision TGA, version 1.0
• TGA_2, Truevision TGA, version 2.0
• TIFF
• TIFF_6, Revision 6.0
• TIFF_G4, TIFF Bitmap with Group 4 Compression
• TIFF_LZW, TIFF Bitmap with LZW Compression
• TIFF_PYR, TIFF, Pyramid
• TIFF_UNC, TIFF Uncompressed Bitmap
• TIFF_UNC_EXIF, TIFF Uncompressed File with Exif Metadata
• TIFF/IT, TIFF/IT, for Image Technology (Prepress). (ISO 12369)
• TIFF/EP_1, TIFF/EP, for Electronic Photography. (ISO 12334-2:2001)
• BigTIFF, BigTIFF
• DRG_as_TIFF, Digital Raster Graphic as TIFF
• GeoTIFF, GeoTIFF Revision 1.0
• TXM
• TXM, Transmission X-Ray Microscopy
• VSDX
• VSDX, Visio VSDX Drawing File Format
• WebP
• WebP, WebP
• WMP
• WMP, Windows Media Photo, Version 1.0, see WMP_1_0, HD Photo, Version 1.0
• X3F
• X3F included in CAM_RAW, Camera Raw Formats (Group Description)
• XPS
• MS-XPS, Microsoft XML Paper Specification, (.xps)
• OpenXPS, Open XML Paper Specification, ECMA-388 (.oxps)

General notes about still image formats are provided by Still Image Quality and Functionality Factors.

Inclusion of a format does not imply that it is preferred or acceptable for Library of Congress collections. Conversely, omission of a format from the list does not imply that it is not preferred or acceptable. See the Recommended Formats Statement for more information.

Descriptions will be drafted, added and updated over time. Persons with specialized knowledge are encouraged to review and comment on the descriptions using this contact form.