Image MIME Reference
AOL-ART
AOL ART Image
image/x-jg
VS
Apple PICT Image
image/x-pict
PICT
A complete technical comparison of AOL ART Image and Apple PICT Image — covering compression, feature support, browser compatibility, magic bytes, and when to choose each format.
Equal browser support
Feature Support
| Feature | AOL-ART | PICT |
|---|---|---|
| Transparency (Alpha) | ✕ No | Yes |
| Animation Support | ✕ No | ✕ No |
| Progressive Loading | Yes | ✕ No |
| HDR Support | ✕ No | ✕ No |
| EXIF Metadata | ✕ No | ✕ No |
| ICC Color Profile | ✕ No | ✕ No |
AOL ART Image
image/x-jg
Extension
.art
Container
Johnson-Grace Proprietary
Compression
Proprietary Wavelet (Photos) / Proprietary Palette-based (Graphics)
Algorithm
Wavelet (similar to early JPEG 2000 concepts)Lossy DCT
Color Depth
8-bit (Indexed), 24-bit (RGB)
Developed by
Johnson-Grace Company (Acquired by AOL)
Released
1994
Magic Bytes
4A 47 03 00 or 4A 47 04 00
Apple PICT Image
image/x-pict
Extension
.pict.pct.pic
Container
QuickDraw Metafile
Compression
Uncompressed / Run-Length Encoding (RLE) / QuickTime Compressors (JPEG, SMC)
Algorithm
Apple PackBits (RLE)QuickTime Image Compression Manager (ICM)
Color Depth
1-bit, 2-bit, 4-bit, 8-bit (Indexed), 16-bit (High Color), 24-bit (True Color), 32-bit (RGBA)
Developed by
Apple Computer, Inc.
Released
1984
Magic Bytes
None (Requires offset parsing, e.g., 00 11 02 FF at byte 522)
Browser Support Comparison
| Browser | AOL-ART | PICT |
|---|---|---|
Chrome
|
✕ | ✕ |
Firefox
|
✕ | ✕ |
Safari
|
✕ | ✕ |
Edge
|
✕ | ✕ |
IE (Legacy)
|
✕ | ✕ |
AOL-ART
AOL-ART Strengths
- Historically provided massive file size reductions (up to 3x smaller than JPEGs of the era) and highly optimized progressive rendering for 14.4k modems
- Enabled faster web browsing on the AOL network during the early days of the commercial internet
Limitations
- Completely proprietary, heavily patent-encumbered, and never officially reverse-engineered for the open-source community
- On-the-fly proxy compression ruined the visual fidelity of many 1990s websites for AOL users
- Virtually impossible to open on modern operating systems without installing niche, legacy image viewers
PICT
PICT Strengths
- Incredibly versatile for its time, allowing a single file to cleanly scale text and vector shapes while simultaneously housing raster photos
- Served as the flawless universal clipboard format for the classic Mac OS, enabling seamless copy/pasting between wildly different applications
Limitations
- Deeply tied to Apple's legacy QuickDraw graphics architecture, making it exceptionally difficult to write accurate third-party parsers on modern operating systems
- Lack of a standard magic header makes file detection unreliable without seeking 522 bytes deep into the file
- Completely unsupported in modern web environments and discontinued by Apple itself
When to choose which format
AOL-ART
Use AOL-ART when…
- Historical AOL Dial-up Web Browsing
- Legacy America Online Client Assets
- 1990s Internet Archival
PICT
Use PICT when…
- Classic Mac OS Clipboard Data
- Legacy Macintosh Desktop Publishing (Aldus PageMaker, QuarkXPress)
- 1980s/1990s Digital Clip Art