Free webp to jpg
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Image MIME Reference
Compressed-XCF

Compressed GIMP XCF Image

image/x-compressed-xcf
VS

High-Throughput JPEG 2000 Image

image/jph
HTJ2K-(JPH)

A complete technical comparison of Compressed GIMP XCF Image and High-Throughput JPEG 2000 Image — covering compression, feature support, browser compatibility, magic bytes, and when to choose each format.

Equal browser support

Feature Support

Feature Compressed-XCF HTJ2K-(JPH)
Transparency (Alpha) Yes Yes
Animation Support Yes ✕ No
Progressive Loading ✕ No Yes
HDR Support Yes Yes
EXIF Metadata Yes Yes
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 →
High-Throughput JPEG 2000 Image
image/jph
Extension
.jph
Container JPH (ISO/IEC 15444-15)
Compression Lossy / Lossless
Algorithm
High-Throughput JPEG 2000 (HTJ2K)
Color Depth 8-bit, 16-bit, 32-bit, 38-bit
Developed by Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG)
Released 2019
Magic Bytes
00 00 00 0C 6A 50 20 20 0D 0A 87 0A ... 66 74 79 70 6A 70 68 20
Full HTJ2K-(JPH) reference →

Browser Support Comparison

Browser Compressed-XCF HTJ2K-(JPH)
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
HTJ2K-(JPH)

HTJ2K-(JPH) Strengths

  • Delivers orders of magnitude faster encoding and decoding than standard JPEG 2000 by utilizing a new, parallelizable block coder
  • Supports mathematically lossless and lossy compression within the same codestream architecture
  • Allows for resolution scalability, progressive decoding, and region-of-interest extraction without needing to decode the entire image
Limitations
  • Zero native web browser support, requiring specialized libraries, API conversions, or WebAssembly (like OpenJPH.js) for web deployment
  • Lack of broad consumer awareness, keeping it confined to professional, medical, and scientific workflows
  • Requires more advanced software ecosystems to decode than ubiquitous formats like JPEG or WebP

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
HTJ2K-(JPH)
Use HTJ2K-(JPH) when…
  • Medical Imaging (DICOM)
  • Geospatial Data
  • Digital Cinema
  • Professional Archiving

More comparisons

Compressed-XCF vs ACES → HTJ2K-(JPH) vs ACES → Compressed-XCF vs APNG → HTJ2K-(JPH) vs APNG → Compressed-XCF vs AVCI → HTJ2K-(JPH) vs AVCI → Compressed-XCF vs AVCS → HTJ2K-(JPH) vs AVCS → Compressed-XCF vs AVIF → HTJ2K-(JPH) vs AVIF → All comparisons →
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