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Image MIME Reference
Compressed-XCF

Compressed GIMP XCF Image

image/x-compressed-xcf
VS

JPEG-LS

image/jls
JPEG-LS

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

Equal browser support

Feature Support

Feature Compressed-XCF JPEG-LS
Transparency (Alpha) Yes ✕ No
Animation Support Yes ✕ No
Progressive Loading ✕ No ✕ No
HDR Support Yes Yes
EXIF Metadata Yes ✕ No
ICC Color Profile Yes ✕ No
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 →
JPEG-LS
image/jls
Extension
.jls.jl
Container JPEG Bitstream
Compression Lossless / Near-Lossless (Predictive Coding)
Algorithm
LOCO-I (Low Complexity Lossless Compression for Images)Golomb-Rice Coding
Color Depth 8-bit, 12-bit, 16-bit (Per Channel)
Developed by Joint Photographic Experts Group (ISO/ITU-T) & HP Labs
Released 1999
Magic Bytes
FF D8 FF F7
Full JPEG-LS reference →

Browser Support Comparison

Browser Compressed-XCF JPEG-LS
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
JPEG-LS

JPEG-LS Strengths

  • Provides state-of-the-art lossless compression ratios for continuous-tone images, often outperforming Lossless JPEG and JPEG 2000
  • Extremely fast and computationally inexpensive to encode/decode, requiring no complex floating-point math or DCTs
  • Highly resilient in constrained hardware environments, making it ideal for medical equipment and deep-space probes (e.g., Mars rovers)
Limitations
  • Zero native support in web browsers or standard consumer operating systems
  • Lacks the advanced resolution scalability and progressive decoding features found in JPEG 2000
  • Primarily relegated to niche enterprise sectors (healthcare/DICOM and aerospace) rather than consumer adoption

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
JPEG-LS
Use JPEG-LS when…
  • Medical Imaging (DICOM Encapsulation)
  • Space and Planetary Imaging (NASA/ESA)
  • Industrial Machine Vision
  • Scientific Archival Storage

More comparisons

Compressed-XCF vs ACES → JPEG-LS vs ACES → Compressed-XCF vs APNG → JPEG-LS vs APNG → Compressed-XCF vs AVCI → JPEG-LS vs AVCI → Compressed-XCF vs AVCS → JPEG-LS vs AVCS → Compressed-XCF vs AVIF → JPEG-LS vs AVIF → All comparisons →
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