Supported Formats

Ratings legend and definitions

You can sort this table by clicking on any of the headings.

Format

Extensions

_images/header-pixels.png _images/header-metadata.png _images/header-openness.png _images/header-presence.png _images/header-utility.png _images/header-export.png

BSD

Multiple Images

Pyramid

3i SlideBook

.sld

4 - Very Good

3 - Good

2 - Fair

4 - Very Good

2 - Fair

No

No

Yes

No

Andor Bio-Imaging Division (ABD) TIFF

.tif

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

3 - Good

2 - Fair

3 - Good

No

No

Yes

No

AIM

.aim

3 - Good

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

1 - Poor

2 - Fair

No

No

No

No

Alicona 3D

.al3d

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

1 - Poor

3 - Good

No

No

No

No

Amersham Biosciences Gel

.gel

4 - Very Good

3 - Good

3 - Good

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

No

No

No

No

Amira Mesh

.am, .amiramesh, .grey, .hx, .labels

4 - Very Good

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

No

No

No

No

Amnis FlowSight

.cif

3 - Good

3 - Good

3 - Good

1 - Poor

2 - Fair

No

Yes

Yes

No

Analyze 7.5

.img, .hdr

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

3 - Good

2 - Fair

No

No

No

No

Andor SIF

.sif

3 - Good

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

No

No

No

No

Animated PNG

.png

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

5 - Outstanding

3 - Good

1 - Poor

Yes

Yes

No

No

Aperio AFI

.afi, .svs

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

3 - Good

3 - Good

No

No

Yes

Yes

Aperio SVS TIFF

.svs

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

3 - Good

3 - Good

No

No

Yes

Yes

Applied Precision CellWorX

.htd, .pnl

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

3 - Good

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

No

No

Yes

No

AVI (Audio Video Interleave)

.avi

3 - Good

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

5 - Outstanding

1 - Poor

Yes

Yes

No

No

Axon Raw Format

.arf

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

1 - Poor

2 - Fair

No

No

No

No

BD Pathway

.exp, .tif

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

3 - Good

2 - Fair

3 - Good

No

No

Yes

No

Becker & Hickl SPC FIFO

.spc

1 - Poor

1 - Poor

3 - Good

1 - Poor

2 - Fair

No

No

Yes

No

Becker & Hickl SPCImage

.sdt

4 - Very Good

3 - Good

3 - Good

1 - Poor

2 - Fair

No

No

Yes

No

Big Data Viewer

.xml, .h5

3 - Good

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

3 - Good

3 - Good

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

Bio-Rad Gel

.1sc

3 - Good

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

1 - Poor

2 - Fair

No

No

No

No

Bio-Rad PIC

.pic, .raw, .xml

5 - Outstanding

5 - Outstanding

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

No

No

No

No

Bio-Rad SCN

.scn

4 - Very Good

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

1 - Poor

2 - Fair

No

No

No

No

Bitplane Imaris

.ims

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

No

No

Yes

Yes

Bruker MRI

3 - Good

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

3 - Good

2 - Fair

No

No

Yes

No

Burleigh

.img

3 - Good

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

No

No

No

No

Canon DNG

.cr2, .crw

3 - Good

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

No

No

No

No

CellH5

.ch5

4 - Very Good

5 - Outstanding

5 - Outstanding

2 - Fair

4 - Very Good

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Cellomics

.c01, .dib

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

2 - Fair

1 - Poor

1 - Poor

No

No

Yes

No

cellSens VSI

.vsi

2 - Fair

4 - Very Good

3 - Good

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

No

No

Yes

Yes

CellVoyager

.xml, .tif

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

3 - Good

2 - Fair

3 - Good

No

No

Yes

No

CV7000

.wpi, .tif

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

3 - Good

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

No

No

Yes

No

DeltaVision

.dv, .r3d, .rcpnl

5 - Outstanding

3 - Good

3 - Good

3 - Good

3 - Good

No

No

Yes

No

DICOM

.dcm, .dicom

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

3 - Good

2 - Fair

No

Yes

Yes

No

ECAT7

.v

3 - Good

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

No

No

No

No

EPS (Encapsulated PostScript)

.eps, .epsi, .ps

3 - Good

3 - Good

3 - Good

4 - Very Good

1 - Poor

Yes

Yes

No

No

Evotec/PerkinElmer Opera Flex

.flex, .mea, .res

5 - Outstanding

5 - Outstanding

1 - Poor

1 - Poor

1 - Poor

No

No

Yes

No

FEI

.img

2 - Fair

1 - Poor

1 - Poor

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

No

No

No

No

FEI TIFF

.tiff

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

3 - Good

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

No

No

No

No

FITS (Flexible Image Transport System)

.fits

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

3 - Good

2 - Fair

No

Yes

No

No

Gatan Digital Micrograph

.dm3, .dm4

4 - Very Good

3 - Good

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

No

No

No

No

Gatan Digital Micrograph 2

.dm2

3 - Good

3 - Good

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

3 - Good

No

No

No

No

GE MicroCT

.vff

4 - Very Good

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

No

No

No

No

GIF (Graphics Interchange Format)

.gif

4 - Very Good

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

5 - Outstanding

1 - Poor

No

Yes

No

No

Hamamatsu Aquacosmos NAF

.naf

3 - Good

1 - Poor

1 - Poor

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

No

No

Yes

No

Hamamatsu HIS

.his

3 - Good

3 - Good

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

No

No

Yes

No

Hamamatsu ndpi

.ndpi, .ndpis

4 - Very Good

3 - Good

3 - Good

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

No

No

Yes

Yes

Hamamatsu VMS

.vms

3 - Good

3 - Good

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

No

No

Yes

No

Hitachi S-4800

.txt, .tif, .bmp, .jpg

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

No

No

No

No

I2I

.i2i

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

1 - Poor

2 - Fair

No

No

No

No

ICS (Image Cytometry Standard)

.ics, .ids

5 - Outstanding

5 - Outstanding

5 - Outstanding

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

Yes

Yes

No

No

Imacon

.fff

1 - Poor

1 - Poor

2 - Fair

1 - Poor

3 - Good

No

No

Yes

No

ImagePro Sequence

.seq

4 - Very Good

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

No

No

No

No

ImagePro Workspace

.ipw

4 - Very Good

1 - Poor

1 - Poor

1 - Poor

1 - Poor

No

No

No

No

IMAGIC

.hed, .img

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

3 - Good

3 - Good

No

No

No

No

IMOD

.mod

3 - Good

3 - Good

5 - Outstanding

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

No

No

No

No

Improvision Openlab LIFF

.liff

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

3 - Good

2 - Fair

No

No

Yes

No

Improvision Openlab Raw

.raw

5 - Outstanding

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

1 - Poor

2 - Fair

No

No

No

No

Improvision TIFF

.tif

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

2 - Fair

3 - Good

No

No

No

No

Imspector OBF

.obf, .msr

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

1 - Poor

2 - Fair

No

Yes

Yes

No

InCell 1000/2000

.xdce, .tif

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

3 - Good

2 - Fair

3 - Good

No

No

Yes

No

InCell 3000

.frm

3 - Good

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

1 - Poor

No

No

No

No

INR

.inr

4 - Very Good

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

1 - Poor

2 - Fair

No

No

No

No

Inveon

.hdr

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

3 - Good

1 - Poor

2 - Fair

No

No

Yes

No

Ionpath MIBI

.tif, .tiff

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

1 - Poor

2 - Fair

No

No

No

No

IPLab

.ipl

5 - Outstanding

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

No

No

No

No

IVision

.ipm

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

1 - Poor

2 - Fair

No

No

No

No

JEOL

.dat, .img, .par

3 - Good

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

No

No

No

No

JPEG

.jpg

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

5 - Outstanding

5 - Outstanding

1 - Poor

Yes

Yes

No

No

JPEG 2000

.jp2, .j2k, .jpf

4 - Very Good

5 - Outstanding

5 - Outstanding

3 - Good

1 - Poor

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

JPK

.jpk

3 - Good

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

No

No

Yes

No

JPX

.jpx

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

5 - Outstanding

3 - Good

2 - Fair

No

No

Yes

No

Keller Lab Block

.klb

3 - Good

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

3 - Good

2 - Fair

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

Khoros VIFF (Visualization Image File Format) Bitmap

.xv

3 - Good

1 - Poor

1 - Poor

1 - Poor

1 - Poor

No

No

No

No

Kodak BIP

.bip

4 - Very Good

3 - Good

2 - Fair

1 - Poor

2 - Fair

No

No

No

No

Lambert Instruments FLIM

.fli

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

2 - Fair

3 - Good

No

No

Yes

No

LaVision Imspector

.msr

2 - Fair

1 - Poor

1 - Poor

1 - Poor

2 - Fair

No

No

Yes

No

Leica LCS LEI

.lei, .tif

5 - Outstanding

5 - Outstanding

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

No

No

Yes

No

Leica LAS AF LIF (Leica Image File Format)

.lif

5 - Outstanding

5 - Outstanding

4 - Very Good

3 - Good

4 - Very Good

No

No

Yes

No

Leica SCN

.scn

3 - Good

3 - Good

3 - Good

2 - Fair

3 - Good

No

No

Yes

Yes

LEO

.sxm, .tif, .tiff

3 - Good

3 - Good

3 - Good

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

No

No

No

No

Li-Cor L2D

.l2d, .tif, .scn

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

3 - Good

3 - Good

3 - Good

No

No

Yes

No

LIM (Laboratory Imaging/Nikon)

.lim

3 - Good

1 - Poor

1 - Poor

1 - Poor

1 - Poor

No

No

No

No

MetaMorph 7.5 TIFF

.tiff

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

2 - Fair

3 - Good

No

No

Yes

No

MetaMorph Stack (STK)

.stk, .nd

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

3 - Good

No

No

No

No

MetaXpress

.htd, .tif, .tiff

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

3 - Good

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

No

No

Yes

No

MIAS (Maia Scientific)

.tif

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

2 - Fair

1 - Poor

1 - Poor

No

No

Yes

No

Micro-Manager

.tif, .txt, .xml

5 - Outstanding

5 - Outstanding

5 - Outstanding

2 - Fair

3 - Good

No

Yes

Yes

No

Mikroscan TIFF

.tif, .tiff

3 - Good

3 - Good

3 - Good

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

No

No

No

Yes

MINC MRI

.mnc

4 - Very Good

3 - Good

3 - Good

3 - Good

2 - Fair

No

No

No

No

Minolta MRW

.mrw

4 - Very Good

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

No

No

No

No

MNG (Multiple-image Network Graphics)

.mng

3 - Good

3 - Good

5 - Outstanding

2 - Fair

1 - Poor

No

Yes

Yes

No

Molecular Imaging

.stp

3 - Good

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

No

No

No

No

MRC (Medical Research Council)

.mrc, .st, .ali, .map, .rec, .mrcs

5 - Outstanding

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

3 - Good

3 - Good

No

No

No

No

NEF (Nikon Electronic Format)

.nef, .tif

4 - Very Good

1 - Poor

1 - Poor

1 - Poor

1 - Poor

No

No

No

No

NIfTI

.img, .hdr, .nii, .nii.gz

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

3 - Good

2 - Fair

No

No

No

No

Nikon Elements TIFF

.tiff

3 - Good

3 - Good

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

No

No

No

No

Nikon EZ-C1 TIFF

.tiff

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

3 - Good

1 - Poor

2 - Fair

No

No

No

No

Nikon NIS-Elements ND2

.nd2

4 - Very Good

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

No

No

Yes

No

NRRD (Nearly Raw Raster Data)

.nrrd, .nhdr, .raw, .txt

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

5 - Outstanding

2 - Fair

4 - Very Good

No

Yes

No

No

Olympus CellR/APL

.apl, .mtb, .tnb, .tif, .obsep

4 - Very Good

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

1 - Poor

2 - Fair

No

No

Yes

No

Olympus FluoView FV1000

.oib, .oif

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

3 - Good

3 - Good

4 - Very Good

No

No

Yes

No

Olympus FluoView TIFF

.tif

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

3 - Good

3 - Good

No

No

Yes

No

Olympus OIR

.oir

4 - Very Good

3 - Good

2 - Fair

1 - Poor

2 - Fair

No

No

No

No

Olympus ScanR

.xml, .dat, .tif

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

3 - Good

1 - Poor

2 - Fair

No

No

Yes

No

Olympus SIS TIFF

.tiff

3 - Good

3 - Good

3 - Good

2 - Fair

3 - Good

No

No

No

No

OME-TIFF

.ome.tiff, .ome.tif, .ome.tf2, .ome.tf8, .ome.btf

5 - Outstanding

5 - Outstanding

5 - Outstanding

2 - Fair

5 - Outstanding

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

OME-XML

.ome, .ome.xml

5 - Outstanding

5 - Outstanding

5 - Outstanding

2 - Fair

5 - Outstanding

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

OMERO Pyramid

5 - Outstanding

5 - Outstanding

5 - Outstanding

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

Oxford Instruments

.top

3 - Good

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

No

No

No

No

PCORAW

.pcoraw, .rec

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

2 - Fair

3 - Good

No

No

No

No

PCX (PC Paintbrush)

.pcx

4 - Very Good

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

1 - Poor

2 - Fair

No

Yes

No

No

Perkin Elmer Densitometer

.pds

3 - Good

3 - Good

3 - Good

1 - Poor

2 - Fair

No

No

No

No

PerkinElmer Columbus

.xml, .csv, .tif

3 - Good

3 - Good

2 - Fair

3 - Good

2 - Fair

No

No

Yes

No

PerkinElmer Nuance

.im3

3 - Good

1 - Poor

1 - Poor

1 - Poor

2 - Fair

No

Yes

Yes

No

PerkinElmer Operetta

.tiff, .xml

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

3 - Good

2 - Fair

3 - Good

No

No

Yes

No

PerkinElmer UltraVIEW

.tif, .2, .3, .4, etc.

4 - Very Good

3 - Good

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

No

No

No

No

PerkinElmer Vectra QPTIFF

.tif, .qptiff

4 - Very Good

5 - Outstanding

5 - Outstanding

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

No

No

No

Yes

Portable Any Map

.pbm, .pgm, .ppm

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

5 - Outstanding

3 - Good

1 - Poor

No

Yes

No

No

Adobe Photoshop PSD

.psd

3 - Good

3 - Good

3 - Good

3 - Good

2 - Fair

No

No

No

No

Photoshop TIFF

.tif, .tiff

3 - Good

3 - Good

3 - Good

3 - Good

3 - Good

No

No

Yes

No

PicoQuant Bin

.bin

3 - Good

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

1 - Poor

No

No

No

No

PICT (Macintosh Picture)

.pict

4 - Very Good

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

4 - Very Good

1 - Poor

No

Yes

No

No

PNG (Portable Network Graphics)

.png

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

5 - Outstanding

5 - Outstanding

1 - Poor

Yes

Yes

No

No

Prairie Technologies TIFF

.tif, .xml, .cfg

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

3 - Good

2 - Fair

3 - Good

No

No

Yes

No

Princeton Instruments SPE

.spe

3 - Good

3 - Good

4 - Very Good

2 - Fair

3 - Good

No

No

Yes

No

Quesant

.afm

3 - Good

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

No

No

No

No

QuickTime Movie

.mov

3 - Good

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

5 - Outstanding

1 - Poor

Yes

Yes

No

No

RHK

.sm2, .sm3

3 - Good

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

No

No

No

No

SBIG

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

No

No

No

No

Seiko

.xqd, .xqf

3 - Good

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

No

No

No

No

SimplePCI & HCImage

.cxd

5 - Outstanding

5 - Outstanding

4 - Very Good

1 - Poor

2 - Fair

No

No

No

No

SimplePCI & HCImage TIFF

.tiff

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

2 - Fair

3 - Good

No

No

No

No

SM Camera

3 - Good

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

No

No

No

No

SPIDER

.spi, .stk

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

5 - Outstanding

3 - Good

3 - Good

No

No

No

No

Targa

.tga

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

3 - Good

1 - Poor

No

No

No

No

Tecan Spark Cyto Workspace

.db, .tif

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

3 - Good

2 - Fair

3 - Good

No

No

Yes

No

Text

.txt

3 - Good

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

1 - Poor

No

Yes

No

No

TIFF (Tagged Image File Format)

.tiff, .tif, .tf2, .tf8, .btf

4 - Very Good

5 - Outstanding

5 - Outstanding

5 - Outstanding

2 - Fair

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

TillPhotonics TillVision

.vws

3 - Good

1 - Poor

1 - Poor

1 - Poor

2 - Fair

No

No

Yes

No

Topometrix

.tfr, .ffr, .zfr, .zfp, .2fl

3 - Good

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

No

No

No

No

Trestle

.tif, .sld, .jpg

3 - Good

3 - Good

3 - Good

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

No

No

Yes

Yes

UBM

.pr3

3 - Good

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

1 - Poor

2 - Fair

No

No

No

No

Unisoku

.dat, .hdr

3 - Good

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

No

No

No

No

Varian FDF

.fdf

3 - Good

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

No

No

No

No

Veeco AFM

.hdf

3 - Good

3 - Good

4 - Very Good

2 - Fair

3 - Good

No

No

No

No

Ventana BIF

.bif

3 - Good

3 - Good

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

3 - Good

No

No

No

Yes

VG SAM

.dti

3 - Good

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

1 - Poor

2 - Fair

No

No

No

No

VisiTech XYS

.xys, .html

4 - Very Good

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

1 - Poor

3 - Good

No

No

Yes

No

Volocity

.mvd2

3 - Good

3 - Good

2 - Fair

1 - Poor

2 - Fair

No

No

Yes

No

Volocity Library Clipping

.acff

3 - Good

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

1 - Poor

1 - Poor

No

No

No

No

WA-TOP

.wat

3 - Good

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

No

No

No

No

Windows Bitmap

.bmp

4 - Very Good

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

5 - Outstanding

1 - Poor

No

Yes

No

No

Woolz

.wlz

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

1 - Poor

2 - Fair

Yes

No

No

No

Zeiss Axio CSM

.lms

3 - Good

1 - Poor

1 - Poor

1 - Poor

2 - Fair

No

No

No

No

Zeiss AxioVision TIFF

.xml, .tif

4 - Very Good

3 - Good

3 - Good

2 - Fair

2 - Fair

No

No

Yes

No

Zeiss AxioVision ZVI (Zeiss Vision Image)

.zvi

5 - Outstanding

4 - Very Good

4 - Very Good

3 - Good

3 - Good

No

No

No

No

Zeiss CZI

.czi

5 - Outstanding

5 - Outstanding

4 - Very Good

2 - Fair

3 - Good

No

No

Yes

Yes

Zeiss LSM (Laser Scanning Microscope) 510/710

.lsm, .mdb

5 - Outstanding

4 - Very Good

3 - Good

4 - Very Good

3 - Good

No

No

Yes

No

Bio-Formats currently supports 158 formats

Ratings legend and definitions

5 - Outstanding

Outstanding

4 - Very Good

Very good

3 - Good

Good

2 - Fair

Fair

1 - Poor

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.