Free webp to jpg
CMU-Raster

CMU Window Manager Raster

image/x-cmu-raster Released 1980s · by Carnegie Mellon University (CMU)

The image/x-cmu-raster MIME type represents the CMU Raster format, an early digital image format created at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) in the 1980s. It served as the native bitmap graphic format for the CMU Window Manager and the Andrew User Interface System (AUIS)—a pioneering, joint academic computing project between CMU and IBM. Designed for the UNIX workstations of the era, the format is a highly simplified, uncompressed raster image, typically storing 1-bit monochrome pixel data. It is now completely obsolete and encountered almost exclusively in historical UNIX archives.

Legacy & Raster Graphics Production Ready

Technical Specifications

MIME Type
image/x-cmu-raster
Extensions
.ras
Container
CMU Window Manager Bitmap
Compression
Uncompressed
Algorithms
None
Color Depth
1-bit (Monochrome), 8-bit (Indexed/Grayscale)
Metadata
None
Capabilities
Transparency
Animation
Progressive Loading
Alpha Channel
HDR Support
Official Specification
Aliases: image/cmu-raster

Magic Bytes & HTTP Headers

File Signature (Magic Bytes)
F1 00 40 BB
ASCII: \xF1\x00\x40\xBB
HTTP Headers
Content-Type: image/x-cmu-raster
HTML Accept Attribute
accept="None"

Browser Support Matrix

Browser Status Min Version
Chrome Chrome
Not Supported
Firefox Firefox
Not Supported
Safari Safari
Not Supported
Edge Edge
Not Supported
Internet Explorer Internet Explorer
Not Supported Legacy

Advantages & Limitations

Advantages
  • Incredibly simple, uncompressed binary structure that was easy for early, memory-constrained UNIX workstations to parse and render
Limitations
  • Completely obsolete and unsupported outside of niche historical command-line tools like Netpbm
  • The shared '.ras' file extension causes frequent file misidentification and system conflicts
  • Lacks all modern imaging features, including metadata, compression, and alpha channel transparency

Developer Code Snippets

import magic
# Libmagic contains definitions for the CMU Window Manager bitmap magic bytes.
print(magic.from_file('archive.ras', mime=True)) # Outputs 'image/x-cmu-raster'
const fs = require('fs');
// Manually detecting the CMU Raster magic bytes to avoid Sun Raster (.ras) conflicts
const buffer = Buffer.alloc(4);
const fd = fs.openSync('archive.ras', 'r');
fs.readSync(fd, buffer, 0, 4, 0);
fs.closeSync(fd);
const isCmuRaster = buffer[0] === 0xF1 && buffer[1] === 0x00 && buffer[2] === 0x40 && buffer[3] === 0xBB;
console.log('Is CMU Raster:', isCmuRaster);
import (
    "bytes"
    "net/http"
)
// Native Go HTTP detection will not recognize CMU Raster.
// You must explicitly check for the 4-byte magic signature.
// isCmuRaster := bytes.HasPrefix(buf, []byte{0xF1, 0x00, 0x40, 0xBB})
$mime = mime_content_type('archive.ras');
echo $mime; // Standard PHP setups will likely return 'application/octet-stream' or incorrectly map the extension to 'image/x-sun-raster'

File Detection Steps

How to programmatically detect a image/x-cmu-raster file by reading its raw bytes:

  1. 1 Check the first 4 bytes for the CMU Window Manager magic number (Hex: F1 00 40 BB).
  2. 2 Because the .ras extension is widely shared with the Sun Raster format (Magic Bytes: 59 A6 6A 95), checking the file header is absolutely mandatory to differentiate between the two.

Software Support

N
Netpbm (cmuwmtopbm / pbmtocmuwm)
ImageMagick ImageMagick

Conversion Tools

Share & Embed

Markdown Badge
CMU-Raster Format Badge
[![CMU-Raster Format](https://freewebptojpg.com/mime/image/cmu-raster/badge.svg)](https://freewebptojpg.com/mime/image/cmu-raster)
Interactive iframe Widget
<iframe src="https://freewebptojpg.com/mime/image/cmu-raster/embed" width="100%" height="280" style="border:1px solid #cbd5e1;border-radius:8px;" title="CMU-Raster Specs"></iframe>

JSON API

All data on this page is available as a free, open JSON API. Use it in your project, documentation, or tooling.

GET https://freewebptojpg.com/mime/image/cmu-raster.json Open JSON
Free to use
No auth required
CORS enabled
Use from any domain
Cached 24h
Cache-Control headers set

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a CMU Raster file?

A CMU Raster file is a legacy, uncompressed image format from the 1980s. It was used primarily by the Carnegie Mellon University Window Manager and the Andrew Toolkit to render basic graphics on early UNIX workstations.

Why is my .ras file opening as a Sun Raster image instead?

The '.ras' file extension is heavily overloaded in legacy computing. It is most famously associated with Sun Microsystems' Sun Raster format. Because the CMU Raster format is practically extinct, modern software and operating systems will almost always assume a '.ras' file belongs to the Sun ecosystem.

How do I view or convert a CMU Raster image today?

Modern web browsers and consumer image viewers cannot open CMU Raster files. You must use legacy command-line image processing suites like Netpbm (specifically the 'cmuwmtopbm' command) or ImageMagick to convert them into modern formats like PNG or JPEG.

Related Formats

Share this format