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Image MIME Reference
Compressed-XCF

Compressed GIMP XCF Image

image/x-compressed-xcf
VS

Corel Metafile Exchange

image/x-cmx
Corel-CMX

A complete technical comparison of Compressed GIMP XCF Image and Corel Metafile Exchange — covering compression, feature support, browser compatibility, magic bytes, and when to choose each format.

Equal browser support

Feature Support

Feature Compressed-XCF Corel-CMX
Transparency (Alpha) Yes Yes
Animation Support Yes ✕ No
Progressive Loading ✕ No ✕ No
HDR Support Yes ✕ No
EXIF Metadata Yes ✕ No
ICC Color Profile Yes Yes
Compressed GIMP XCF Image
image/x-compressed-xcf
Extension
.xcf.gz.xcf.bz2.xcfgz.xcfbz2
Container Gzip or Bzip2 Archive
Compression Gzip (Deflate) / Bzip2
Algorithm
DeflateBWT (Burrows-Wheeler)
Color Depth 8-bit (Per Channel), 16-bit (Integer/Floating Point), 32-bit (Integer/Floating Point)
Developed by The GIMP Team
Released 1995
Magic Bytes
1F 8B 08 (gzip) or 42 5A 68 (bzip2)
Full Compressed-XCF reference →
Corel Metafile Exchange
image/x-cmx
Extension
.cmx
Container RIFF (Resource Interchange File Format)
Compression Uncompressed Vector Commands / Embedded Raster Compression (Optional)
Algorithm
None (Vector)
Color Depth Vector Data, Supports embedded bitmaps
Developed by Corel Corporation
Released Mid-1990s
Magic Bytes
52 49 46 46 (skip 4) 43 4D 58 31
Full Corel-CMX reference →

Browser Support Comparison

Browser Compressed-XCF Corel-CMX
Chrome Chrome
✕ ✕
Firefox Firefox
✕ ✕
Safari Safari
✕ ✕
Edge Edge
✕ ✕
IE IE (Legacy)
✕ ✕
Compressed-XCF

Compressed-XCF Strengths

  • Drastically reduces the massive file sizes of standard XCF project files, saving significant disk space
  • Preserves 100% of the non-destructive editing data (layers, masks, paths, guides) from the GIMP workspace
  • Uses standard, universally supported compression algorithms (gzip/bzip2) meaning the archive can be rescued or extracted by standard OS tools if GIMP is unavailable
Limitations
  • Increases file load and save times due to the CPU overhead required to compress and decompress the massive pixel arrays
  • Impossible for automated tools to parse metadata or dimensions without first unarchiving the payload into memory
  • File extension combinations (.xcf.gz) can confuse basic MIME sniffers which stop reading at the .gz extension
Corel-CMX

Corel-CMX Strengths

  • Preserves rich vector attributes and layer groupings native to the Corel drawing engine better than standard WMF files
  • Significantly smaller footprint than full CDR project files, making it excellent for early CD-ROM clip art distribution
  • Maintains decent support in the open-source community thanks to libraries like libcdr
Limitations
  • Proprietary format strictly tied to Corel's ecosystem, often causing compatibility issues with Adobe software
  • Zero support in web browsers; must be converted to SVG for modern web usage
  • Largely obsolete for modern workflows, superseded by PDF and SVG

When to choose which format

Compressed-XCF
Use Compressed-XCF when…
  • GIMP Multi-layer Project Archival
  • Saving disk space for complex raster edits
  • Open-source graphic design workflows
Corel-CMX
Use Corel-CMX when…
  • Legacy CorelDRAW Clip Art Collections
  • Vector Graphic Exchange within Corel Suite
  • Historical Desktop Publishing Assets

More comparisons

Compressed-XCF vs ACES → Corel-CMX vs ACES → Compressed-XCF vs APNG → Corel-CMX vs APNG → Compressed-XCF vs AVCI → Corel-CMX vs AVCI → Compressed-XCF vs AVCS → Corel-CMX vs AVCS → Compressed-XCF vs AVIF → Corel-CMX vs AVIF → All comparisons →
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