Free webp to jpg
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Image MIME Reference
DWG

AutoCAD Drawing

image/vnd.dwg
VS

PaintShop Pro Image

image/x-paintshoppro
PaintShop-Pro-PSP

A complete technical comparison of AutoCAD Drawing and PaintShop Pro Image — covering compression, feature support, browser compatibility, magic bytes, and when to choose each format.

Equal browser support

Feature Support

Feature DWG PaintShop-Pro-PSP
Transparency (Alpha) Yes Yes
Animation Support ✕ No ✕ No
Progressive Loading ✕ No ✕ No
HDR Support ✕ No Yes
EXIF Metadata ✕ No Yes
ICC Color Profile ✕ No Yes
AutoCAD Drawing
image/vnd.dwg
Extension
.dwg
Container DWG Binary Container
Compression Proprietary Binary Compression (LZ77 based in newer versions)
Algorithm
Proprietary (Autodesk ObjectDBX)
Color Depth Vector (True Color / Indexed AutoCAD Color Index)
Developed by Autodesk
Released 1982
Magic Bytes
41 43 31 30 (AC10)
Full DWG reference →
PaintShop Pro Image
image/x-paintshoppro
Extension
.psp.pspimage.tub.pat
Container PSP Chunk-based Format
Compression Uncompressed / RLE (Run-Length Encoding) / LZ77
Algorithm
RLELZ77
Color Depth 8-bit (Indexed), 16-bit (Grayscale), 24-bit (RGB), 32-bit (RGBA), 48-bit (High Color)
Developed by Jasc Software / Corel Corporation (Alludo)
Released 1990
Magic Bytes
7E 42 4B 00
Full PaintShop-Pro-PSP reference →

Browser Support Comparison

Browser DWG PaintShop-Pro-PSP
Chrome Chrome
✕ ✕
Firefox Firefox
✕ ✕
Safari Safari
✕ ✕
Edge Edge
✕ ✕
IE IE (Legacy)
✕ ✕
DWG

DWG Strengths

  • The undisputed industry standard for 2D drafting and basic 3D CAD modeling
  • Highly optimized binary structure keeps file sizes relatively small compared to text-based CAD formats like DXF
  • Supports incredibly complex datasets including external references (XREFs), dynamic blocks, and extensive custom metadata
Limitations
  • It is a closed, proprietary format, making it difficult for third-party developers to support fully without licensing the Open Design Alliance (ODA) SDK
  • Lacks native web or standard operating system previewer support
  • Format versions change frequently (roughly every 3 years), breaking backward compatibility for older CAD software
PaintShop-Pro-PSP

PaintShop-Pro-PSP Strengths

  • Provides robust, non-destructive editing capabilities with full support for vector layers, adjustment layers, and layer blend modes
  • Historically offered a highly capable and affordable alternative to Adobe Photoshop's PSD format for Windows users
  • Features proprietary support for 'Picture Tubes' (.tub), a unique brush technology that paints sequential or random raster objects along a path
Limitations
  • Deeply proprietary format tied exclusively to the Corel/Alludo ecosystem
  • Third-party software support (like GIMP or ImageMagick) is often limited to parsing older .psp files, frequently failing to render complex layers in modern .pspimage files
  • No support in modern web browsers; must be exported to a flattened web format (JPEG/PNG) for online viewing

When to choose which format

DWG
Use DWG when…
  • Architectural Floor Plans
  • Mechanical Engineering Models
  • Civil Engineering Drafts
  • 3D Product Designs
PaintShop-Pro-PSP
Use PaintShop-Pro-PSP when…
  • PaintShop Pro Multi-layer Project Archival
  • Digital Art and Photo Retouching
  • Picture Tubes (.tub) and Custom Patterns (.pat)

More comparisons

DWG vs ACES → PaintShop-Pro-PSP vs ACES → DWG vs APNG → PaintShop-Pro-PSP vs APNG → DWG vs AVCI → PaintShop-Pro-PSP vs AVCI → DWG vs AVCS → PaintShop-Pro-PSP vs AVCS → DWG vs AVIF → PaintShop-Pro-PSP vs AVIF → All comparisons →
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