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Doctor
DOS
Betamax's
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DOS
AUDIO
&
GRAPHIC
FILE NAME EXTENSIONS
Or...
"What Do Those Things Mean?"
Part II
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As a companion to
DOS File Extensions, here are some
typical audio and graphics file name extensions.
(The latter includes font file types.)
While this guide is
geared toward DOS users, many of these apply to other operating
systems' graphics and audio programs. However, be aware that some of
those programs might use them to mean things differently from what
is given here. Also, some of these file types may not actually be
used by DOS programs. They are included here if there are DOS
programs which can read and/or convert them.
After the
Extensions section are additional websites giving file
name extensions for other operating systems and their programs.
(Some of these also include DOS extensions).
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INFORMATION BELOW MAY NOT BE REPRODUCED
WITHOUT PERMISSION FROM THE AUTHOR ©
File Name Extension Guide
for DOS
Audio
&
Graphic
Formats & Programs
DOS Audio File Extensions
.aic (.aifc) - Audio Interchange with Compression
Apple .aiff (see next) audio format with compression. It uses the
Macintosh Audio Compression/Expansion (MACE) method with either a 3-to-1
(MACE3) or 6-to-1 (MACE6) ratio. Files can be monophonic or stereo with
an 8 or 16 bit-sample at various sampling rates.
.aif (.aiff) - Audio Interchange File Format
Uncompressed audio format used by Apple and SGI (Silicon Graphics). As
above, files are available in monophonic or stereo. It can handle 8 or 16
bit samples at various sampling rates.
The .aiff extension is also used by Amiga to designate graphics files.
See the Graphic-File Extentions section, further on.
.all - ?
Printer and font definitions used by WordPerfect.
.ans - ANSII ?
ANSI graphics file.
.au - Audio ? Audio u-Law ?
Audio format used by Sun Microsystem, NeXT, and DEC. It uses u-law
(myew-law) encoding. (The `u' is actually the greek letter u (myew),
which cannot be reliably reproduced here.) In Europe, it's known as "A-Law".
Audio in this format is monophonic, 8-bit, and sampled at 8 Khz. Some
systems are capable of higher sampling rates, but not all players can handle
other than 8 Khz. The chief advantage is its wide dynamic range from
quietest to loudest parts of a sound.
Note too, that there are apparently 8 & 16-bit linear formats of
.au, and thus, not all .au files are compatible.
.avi - Audio/Video Interleave
Audio and video format from Microsoft.
.hcm (hcom)- Huffman Compression
These are apparently compressed Macintosh FSSD files.
.iff
8-bit audio format used by Amiga. The .wav format is similar.
The .aiff and .iff extensions are used by Amiga to designate
graphics files. See the Graphic-File Extentions
section, further on.
.mid or .mii (.midi) - Musical Instrument Digital Interface
Audio format set up for musicians to be able to control various musical
instruments with MIDI capability. When computers became commercially
available to musicians, many audio mixing/composing programs incorporated
MIDI.
.mod - Music ? ? (Also "Module")
Audio format from Amiga which may be run on DOS players. Capable of at
least up to 99 8 and 16-bit samples at various rates, and 64 channels.
.mov - Motion ? ? or Movie ?
QuickTime Audio and Graphics format from Apple.
.mp1,2,3 (.mpeg) - Motion Picture Experts Group
Audio formats from the MPEG people; the most popular now being .mp3.
It offers high quality with smaller file sizes.
.mpg (.mpeg) - Moving Picture Experts Group
Audio and video format. See Graphic-File Extentions
section, further on.
.ra or .raf Real Audio Format
Audio format developed for downloading via modem by using high
compression. It is capable of monophonic AM or FM-quality sound depending
on the algorithm. Due to its nature, this is a lossy format, and thus
quality is not as good as the original.
.raw - Raw
Audio & graphics format. See
Graphic-File Extentions section, further on.
.rif (.riff) ?
Same as, or at least, similar to the .wav format. Available in 8 or 16
bit resolutions.
.sb - Signed Byte
Raw audio format.
.sf - Sound File
IRCAM Sound Files. Typically used by academic music software such as
CSound and the MixView sound sample editor.
.smp - Sample
Used in the Sample Vision program from Turtle Creek Softworks.
.snd - Sound
Macintosh audio format for playing sounds through the computer speaker.
Used by Sounder and Soundtools.
.sng - Song
Audio format.
.sw - Signed Word
Raw audio format.
.ub - Unsigned Bute
Raw audio format.
.ul - ULAW
Raw audio format.
.voc- Voice
Creative Voice audio format used by SoundBlaster.
.wav (.wave) Windows Audio ? ?
Audio format. Commercial compact discs use this format. It is
also often used by computer programs to play sound bites because of
its wide range of sample sizes, rates, and number of channels.
DOS Graphic File Extensions
In the formats listings further on, you may see
the terms "bit-mapped", "vector", and "metafile".
Here are some short explanations:
Bit-Mapped:
This is an image which is composed of rows of squares called "picture
elements", or "pixels". Each pixel is assigned a colour and intensity,
with rows of them making up an image in mosaic form. This is also known
as a "raster" image.
The basic image can display 2 colours. The "colours" are black and white.
"Colours" is in quotation marks because neither are actually colours.
"Black" is the absence of colour; "white" is all colours combined. However,
for computer (and other) purposes, they are considered colours. These are
displayed as either an off or on pixel. Typical colour images can display
from 4 colours to 16 million-plus colours depending on the image's colour
depth and type of format. Examples of bit-mapped images are .bmp, .gif, .jpg,
.pcx, and .tif. There are many, many more.
Bit-mapped images have a serious drawback - they don't enlarge or shrink
well. When a bit-mapped image is made larger, the program expanding the
image must add pixels to the existing ones. It is not done by enlarging
the pixels. The method used is extrapolation; that is, the graphics program
looks at the surrounding pixels and copies them. It then gives colour and
intensity values to the new pixels that are in between those around it. The
value range depends on the colour depth and contrast ratio of the image.
Thus a 256-colour image will allow the extrapolation process to use any of
the 256 colours available, while a 16-million colour image will have more
from which to pick. Each of these copied pixels fills in the empty spaces
created when the image is enlarged.
When an image is shrunk, pixels must be removed, so resolution is lost
because there are fewer pixels to describe the image. Both operations are
not consistent across an image, and can give odd-looking results with
extreme enlargement or reduction because of inaccurate creation or loss
of picture information.
Vector:
A vector image is created using mathematical formulas. The picture
information is created by instructions for each straight line, curve, or
geometrical shape, as might be seen in a grade-school geometry or physics
course. Shapes are created by coordinates, as done on a graph. Thus, a
circle would be defined as "x squared + y squared = r squared". The nice
thing about this is that enlarging or shrinking an image just means
substituting larger or smaller numbers in the equations. The information
is always there.
Computer aided design (CAD) programs use this method of drawing outlines
or wire-frame models. The images are coloured by defining pixel values
within each boundary of a shape. The same goes for intensity.
Metafile:
These are images which combine the preceding two. The file contains
instructions for recreating the image. If a photograph or drawing is in
a bit-mapped format and is then drawn upon with a graphics program, such
as DrawPerfect, the result will be a metafile. Be aware that some programs
which are capable of this may still save or convert the resulting image to
a bit-mapped format for use or viewing by other programs.
Here now, are the graphics formats which are created
or able to be read/converted by DOS programs:
.acb - ?
Graphics format compatible with .iff brushes and ACBM files.
.afm - Adobe Font ?
A file format used by Adobe for PostScript support.
.aif (.aiff) - Amiga Interchange File Format
The .aiff extension is also used by Apple and others to designate
audio files. See the Audio-File Extentions section,
further back.
.all - ?
Printer and font definitions used by WordPerfect.
.ani - Animation
The first image of an .iff animation file.
.ans - ANSI (American National Standards Institute)
This is a text image or capture typically in an 80 column X 25 row
format.
.art - Artwork ?
Graphics format used by First Publisher ART.
.avi - Audio/Video Interleave
Graphics and audio format from Microsoft.
.art
Graphics format.
.bbm - ?
Graphics format compatible with .iff brushes and ACBM files.
.bfx - ? Facsimile
Group 3 FAX format.
.bgi - Borland Graphics Interface
A format used by Borland in its Paradox and Quattro programs.
.bmp - Bit Map
Bit-mapped graphics format. Supports up to 16 million colours (24 bit).
There are at least two formats of .bmp files.
.bsg - ?
Used by Fontasy.
.cch - Corel ? ?
Graphics format used by the Corel company.
.cdr - Corel Draw
Metafile format used by the Corel company.
.cegContinuous Edge Graphics
Graphics format used by Edsun.
.cel
Graphics format used by Autodesk.
.cgm- Computer Graphics Metafile
Vector graphics format used by DrawPerfect, Freelance, Graphwriter,
1-2-3, Pixie, etc. Accepted by a number of standards organizations including
ISO (International Standards Organization).
.chr - Character?
Font files used by Quattro and Paradox.
.cht- Chart ?
Format used by Harvard Graphics. Also .ch3.
.clp- Clipboard
File type used by NeoPaint to store temporary images or parts of images
as defined by the user.
.ct- Continuous Tone
A Scitek high-resolution format used with CMYK and RGB images.
.cut - ?
Graphic format used by Dr. Halo, Halovision, and some older scanners.
.cvp - Cannon Virtual Passport?
Graphic format used by Cannon for its passport image photo unit.
Resolution is 24-bit, 512x512.
.dat - ?
?
.dcx - ?
Used by PC Paintbrush.
.dhp - Dr. Halo PIC
Graphic format.
.dib - Device-Independent Bitmap
These are bit-mapped graphics fonts or images. Supports 16 million
colours. There are at least two formats of .dib files.
.div - ?
DivX Digital Video Disc (DVD) format.
.djp - Deskjet Printer
Hewlett Packard printer font.
.dl - ?
Animation format.
.drw - Drawing
This is a metafile graphics format used by Micrografx and Corel Draw.
.dta - ?
Graphics format used by Zeiss electron microscopes.
.dv - ?
Digital Video format.
.dvi - Digital Video Interactive
Video format from Intel.
.dwg - Drawing
Vector graphics format used by AutoCAD.
.dxf - Drawing ? Format ?
Vector graphics format used by AutoCAD.
.eps - Encapsulated PostScript
These are metafile graphics fonts and image with up to 16 million
colours. They can also be page descriptions for both text & graphics.
.fax - Facsimile
Group 3 FAX format.
.flc - Flick
Autodesk Animator Pro FLIC's.
.fli - ?
Autodesk Animator FLIC's.
.flm - ?
Uncompressed files from the Screenmachine FAST-Electronic.
.flx - ?
Autodesk Animator FLIC's with Hicolor.
.fnt - Font
Used to designate a particular font file. Thus, "Courier" might be in
"COURIER.fnt".
.fon - Phone or Font
Keeps a phone directory or log of phone calls. Some programs may use it
as a font file, but the common standard now is ".fnt".
.frm - Form
Used by Echolab.
.fx* - Facsimile
Group 3 FAX format.
.gem - Graphics Environment Manager
These are vector graphics fonts and images. Used by GEM Paint,
Ventura Publisher, Atari ST.
.gdi - Graphics ? ?
GEM metafile.
.gft - Graphic Font, GEM Font
These are graphics fonts used by Digital Research, NeoSoft and others.
.gif - Graphic Interchange Format
Bit-mapped graphics in two formats - 87a & 89a. 89a allows for one
colour to be selected as transparent, meaning it will allow the background
colour of a particular view to show through the image. Can handle up to 256
colours. This was first developed by CompuServe and is widely supported.
Note that ".gif" is *not* pronounced "jiff". It stands for "Graphic
Interchange Format" and the `g' in "graphics" is hard. Therefore, ".gif"
should be pronounced with a hard `g', as in "get it?". (-:
.gl - ?
Sequential overview of the images included in GRASP files.
.gx1 - Graphics ? ?
Used by Show Partner.
.ham - ?
Format used by Amiga. It's a variation of the .aiff graphic format.
.hgs - Harvard Graphics ?
Graphics format used by Harvard Graphics.
.hpf - Hewlett Packard Font
A bitstream soft font used by Hewlett Packard.
.hpg - Hewlett Packard Graphic
Graphics format. Also seen as .hpgl for "Hewlett Packard Graphics
Language". This is typically used for plotter graphics.
.icn or .ico
Graphics format for icons, typically .bmp (bit map).
.iff Image File Format ?
Graphics format compatible with Deluxe Paint ILBM and ACBM for Commodore,
and PBM for PC's. Also used for animations. It is used by some companies for
audio files. See the Audio-File Extentions section,
further back.
.ikn - ?
Graphics format for icons, used by Arachne.
.im - Image ?
KO-23 satellite with 109 Block error correction.
.img - Image
Graphics format used by GEM Paint, Zeiss electron microscopes, Kontron,
and some other programs/manufacturers. Same as .ximg, but with no colour
table.
.isf - IBM Support Facility ?
Image support facility file format used by IBM.
.jfi or .jff (.jfif) - JPEG File Interchange Format
A graphics format related to the .jpg standard.
.jif - JPEG Interchange Format
A graphics format which is one particular .jpg standard.
.jpe or .jpg (.jpeg) - Joint Picture Experts Group
Bit-mapped graphics format. Not all .jpg files can be opened by all
.jpg-compatible programs dues to slightly different formattings. They have
to do with variances among the methods used to compress the image and/or
whether the .jpg is a "progressive" version. A progressive JPEG is one
which displays a bit of the image at a time as it loads into an Internet
web browser, as oppposed to waiting until the entire image is downloaded
before displaying.
.jpg images have the disadvantage of losing detail depending on the
amount of compression used. Thus, one may trade image quality for small
file size when the quality is less important than size. This makes this
format excellent for transmission via electronic means such as Internet
web pages and e-mail. Smaller files take less time to transmit.
.jtf - JPEG Tagged Format?
A .tif image using .jpg compression.
.lbm - ?
Graphics format used by Deluxe Paint.
.mac - Macintosh
Graphics format used by Macintosh Paint, but readable by some DOS graphics
programs.
.mcs - ?
Vector graphics format.
.mjp - Motion JPEG
Motion version of the popular .jpeg static format from The Joint Picture
Experts Group. Since this format treats each video frame as a complete still
image, decompression takes a longer time. That's because Motion JPEG has no
frame differencing. This means that picture items common to adjacent frames
are not held from frame to frame, so the software has more work to do, thus
taking more time. This results in frames being dropped, so motion quality
degrades.
.mov - Motion ? ? or Movie ?
Motion graphics and audio in the Macintosh Quick Time format. Now
available cross platform to DOS and other systems.
.mpg (.mpeg) - Moving Picture Experts Group
Audio, with video in two formats: 352 X 240 (or 288) and 720 X
480. Frame rates are either 25 or 30 per second depending on the country
in which they are used.
.msp - Microsoft Paint
Used by the MS Paint program.
.nam - Name
Used by Print Shop.
.pal - Palette
These designate colour palettes used by Color Commander, NeoSoft,
PalMan and others.
.pat - Pattern
These are used as stand-alone patterns or as backgrounds. When used as
stand-alones, the program will often allow them to be transparent. That is,
a background can show through the pattern.
.pbn - ?
Graphics format used by UNIX systems. Compatible with .pgn and .pnm.
Capable of up to 24-bit colour depth.
.pcc - ?
Bit-mapped graphics format used by PC Paintbrush but widely supported
by other programs.
.pcd - Photo Compact Disc
This is a high-resolution graphic format used for photographic
transfers. Capable of up to 6144 X 4096-pixel images. The Kodak Photo
CD-ROM uses this format, but at lower resolutions.
.pcp - ?
Used by Atari.
.pct (.pict) - Picture
A Macintosh vector graphics format. These are able to be read by some
DOS programs. Capable of various colour depths up to 24-bit.
.pcx - ?
Bit-mapped graphics format used by Zsoft's PC Paintbrush but widely
supported by other programs. Handles up to 16.7 million colours.
.pdf - Public Document Format or
Portable Document Format
Cross-platform file format introduced by Adobe. Also may contain text.
.pgl or .plt - Plotter Geometric Lines? or Plotter
Vector format used by Hewlett Packard plotter pens.
.pgn - ?
Graphics format used by UNIX systems. Compatible with pbn and .pnm.
Capable of up to 24-bit colour depth.
.pic - Picture
Used by Lotus, PCPaint and Pictor.
Macintosh sometimes uses the .pic extension for its .pict vector
graphics format. (See .pct, above.) This is readable by certain DOS
programs.
Also used by Lotus 1-2-3 to designate its graph images. The three formats
are different.
.pim - Permanent Image File
Format used by some graphics programs.
.pix - PIXAR
High resolution graphics format from PIXAR.
.pmc - ?
Used by the A4TECH Scanner.
.png - Portable Network Graphics
A graphics format intended as a replacement for .gif. It supports more
colours than .gif and has variable transparency capability. A .gif image has
a selected colour which is either transparent or not - there is no in
between. Since this format can support up to 48-bit colour, its file size
can be larger than a comparable .jpg image file.
.pnm - Print New ?
Name file used by New Print Shop.
.pnt (.pntg) - Paint
Graphics format used by MacPaint.
.pog - ?
Graphic format used by New Print Shop.
.ppi (.ppic) - Paint Plus Image ? Packed Picture ?
Compressed graphics format used by PC Paint Plus.
.ppm
Graphics format.
.pro - Profile
A graphics configuration file.
.prs - ?
Graphics format used by Harvard Graphics.
.ps - PostScript
These are metafile graphics fonts with up to 16 million colours. They can
also be page descriptions for both text & graphics.
.psg - Print Shop Graphic
An image format used by Print Shop and Print Shop Deluxe from Bríderbund
Software.
.pso - PostScript ?
A bitstream soft font.
.pzt - Pizazz Type?
This is from Application Techniques. It's a compressed format used by
its Pizazz Plus screen capture program.
.qfx - ? Facsimile
Group 3 FAX format.
.qt - Quick Time
Motion graphics & audio in the Macintosh Quick Time format.
.ras - Raster
Uncompressed raster (bit-mapped) file used by Sun.
.raw - ?
Audio & graphics format. The graphics consist of a data stream
describing each pixel in binary format from 0 (black) to 255 (white).
.ric - ?
Group 3 FAX format.
.rix - ?
Graphics format, apparently compatible with SCF, SCI, SCP, SCQ, SCR, and
SCX.
.rlc - ?
Graphics format.
.rle - Run Length Encoding
Graphics files in a bit-mapped format used by Vidtex and others.
.sat - Satellite ?
Eumetsat Wettersatellitenbild format used by BTXSAT of Austria.
.scf - ?
Graphics format.
.sci - ?
Graphics format.
.scp - ?
Graphics format.
.scq - ?
Graphics format.
.scr - Screen
Word capture graphics format? Also used for screen snapshots by some
programs.
.sct - Screen Capture
Used by Manuscript to hold screen captures.
.scx - ?
Graphics format used by Colorix and Winrix. Compatible with .rix graphic
files.
.sfi - ?
Graphics format used by the SIS Framegrabber.
files.
.sfi - ?
Graphics format used by the SIS Framegrabber.
files.
.sfl - Soft Font Landscape
Hewlett Packard bitmapped soft font in landscape orientation.
.sfp - Soft Font Portrait
Hewlett Packard bitmapped soft font in portrait orientation.
.sfs - Soft Font Screen
Soft font file indicating a screen font.
.sgf - Star Graphics Format ?
Graphics format. Starwriter by Star Divison Hamburg.
.shp - ?
Printmaster graphics file.
.skd - Sketchpad ?
Used by Autosketch.
.sld - Slide ?
Typically used by programs as the source file for slide shows.
.spd (.spiff) - Speedo
A font file.
.spf (.spiff) - ?
A graphics format similar to the .jfif format.
.spr - Sony Playstation ?
Used by Sony.
.st - Stamp or Stamp Pad
These are preset patterns or images with which a paint program can use
to colour or draw, or use as a stand-alone image.
.sty - Style
WordPerfect style files.
.tga - Targa
Graphics format from TrueVision. Supports up to 32-bit images.
.tif (.tiff) - Tagged-Image File Format
Bit-mapped graphics format developed by desktop publishing companies.
Due to different compression methods, not all .tif files can be read by
all .tif-compatible programs.
.tim - ?
Used by Sony.
.tpi - Turbovision Picture Image ?
Graphics format used by Turbo Pascal.
.vi - ?
Used by Jovian?
.vm - ?
Files from the Screenmachine FAST-Electronic.
.wfx - ? Facsimile
Group 3 FAX format.
.wks - Worksheet
Used by Lotus 1-2-3.
.wmf - Windows Meta File
Meta-file image format.
.wpg - Word Perfect Graphic
Metafile graphics format used by WordPerfect.
.xfx - ? Facsimile
Group 3 FAX format.
.ximg - ? Image
Graphics format used by GEM Paint, Ventura Publisher. It's the same
as
.img but includes a colour table.
.xlc - Excel Chart
Used by the Excel.
.xls - Excel Spreadsheet
Used by the Excel.
.xvid - ?
Digital Video format.
.yu
Video format. This includes `yu' and `yv' formats followed by other
characters or numbers to give `yuy2', `yvu9', `yv12', etc.
.zoo
Graphics format.
Here are additional websites showing file name extensions
for operating systems and their programs (including DOS):
Return to
DOS Non Audio/Graphic
File Extensions
