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Image MIME Reference
Compressed-XCF

Compressed GIMP XCF Image

image/x-compressed-xcf
VS

SealedMedia Portable Network Graphics

image/vnd.sealed.png
Sealed-PNG

A complete technical comparison of Compressed GIMP XCF Image and SealedMedia Portable Network Graphics — covering compression, feature support, browser compatibility, magic bytes, and when to choose each format.

Equal browser support

Feature Support

Feature Compressed-XCF Sealed-PNG
Transparency (Alpha) Yes ✕ No
Animation Support Yes ✕ No
Progressive Loading ✕ No ✕ No
HDR Support Yes ✕ No
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 →
SealedMedia Portable Network Graphics
image/vnd.sealed.png
Extension
.spng.sealed-png
Container SealedMedia / Oracle IRM Wrapper
Compression Encrypted Payload (Deflate)
Algorithm
AES EncryptionDeflate (Internal PNG payload)
Color Depth Encrypted Payload
Developed by SealedMedia (Acquired by Oracle Corporation)
Released Late 1990s / Early 2000s
Magic Bytes
Unknown (Proprietary SealedMedia Container)
Full Sealed-PNG reference →

Browser Support Comparison

Browser Compressed-XCF Sealed-PNG
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
Sealed-PNG

Sealed-PNG Strengths

  • Provided absolute control over intellectual property, allowing enterprise administrators to instantly revoke viewing rights of a local file globally
  • Detailed audit trails tracked exactly who opened the image, when, and from what IP address
Limitations
  • Completely proprietary and relies on a central authentication server; if the server goes offline, the image is permanently inaccessible
  • No support in modern operating systems, web browsers, or standard image editing software without installing heavy enterprise DRM clients
  • Oracle effectively deprecated the IRM product line, leaving legacy sealed documents difficult to recover

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
Sealed-PNG
Use Sealed-PNG when…
  • Enterprise Information Rights Management (IRM)
  • Secure Corporate Intellectual Property Distribution
  • Revocable Medical or Legal Imaging

More comparisons

Compressed-XCF vs ACES → Sealed-PNG vs ACES → Compressed-XCF vs APNG → Sealed-PNG vs APNG → Compressed-XCF vs AVCI → Sealed-PNG vs AVCI → Compressed-XCF vs AVCS → Sealed-PNG vs AVCS → Compressed-XCF vs AVIF → Sealed-PNG vs AVIF → All comparisons →
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