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Image MIME Reference
EDMICS-MMR

Fuji Xerox EDMICS-MMR

image/vnd.fujixerox.edmics-mmr
VS

Macromedia FreeHand Document

image/x-freehand
FreeHand

A complete technical comparison of Fuji Xerox EDMICS-MMR and Macromedia FreeHand Document — covering compression, feature support, browser compatibility, magic bytes, and when to choose each format.

Equal browser support

Feature Support

Feature EDMICS-MMR FreeHand
Transparency (Alpha) ✕ No Yes
Animation Support ✕ No Yes
Progressive Loading ✕ No ✕ No
HDR Support ✕ No ✕ No
EXIF Metadata ✕ No ✕ No
ICC Color Profile ✕ No Yes
Fuji Xerox EDMICS-MMR
image/vnd.fujixerox.edmics-mmr
Extension
.mmr.edm
Container Fuji Xerox EDMICS Wrapper
Compression Modified Modified READ (MMR / Group 4 Fax)
Algorithm
MMR (ITU-T T.6 / CCITT Group 4)
Color Depth 1-bit (Monochrome / Bi-level)
Developed by Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd.
Released 1990s
Magic Bytes
Unknown (Proprietary Container wrapped around MMR bitstream)
Full EDMICS-MMR reference →
Macromedia FreeHand Document
image/x-freehand
Extension
.fh.fh4.fh5.fh7.fh8.fh9.fh10.fh11.ft11
Container Proprietary Binary (Aldus Graphic Document)
Compression Uncompressed / Deflate (in later versions)
Algorithm
NoneDeflate (Optional in later versions)
Color Depth Vector Data (RGB/CMYK)
Developed by Altsys / Aldus / Macromedia
Released 1988
Magic Bytes
41 47 44 31 to 41 47 44 34
Full FreeHand reference →

Browser Support Comparison

Browser EDMICS-MMR FreeHand
Chrome Chrome
Firefox Firefox
Safari Safari
Edge Edge
IE IE (Legacy)
EDMICS-MMR

EDMICS-MMR Strengths

  • Utilized the highly efficient MMR (Group 4) algorithm, which allowed massive, E-size engineering blueprints to be compressed into tiny file sizes suitable for 1990s hard drives and networks
  • Deeply integrated into Fuji Xerox hardware and database systems for seamless scan-to-archive workflows
Limitations
  • Completely proprietary and closed-source, making modern archival extraction and migration extremely difficult
  • No support in modern image processing libraries like ImageMagick, libvips, or standard TIFF viewers without first stripping the proprietary header
  • Strictly limited to 1-bit monochrome images
FreeHand

FreeHand Strengths

  • Historically one of the most powerful and intuitive vector editors on the market, praised for multi-page support long before Adobe Illustrator implemented it
  • Files are generally compact and self-contained
Limitations
  • Completely abandoned proprietary format; Adobe actively blocked native import in modern versions of Illustrator
  • No support in modern web browsers; must be converted to SVG
  • Versioning fragmentation means parsers must account for wildly different binary structures depending on the specific .fhX extension used

When to choose which format

EDMICS-MMR
Use EDMICS-MMR when…
  • Fuji Xerox EDMICS Enterprise Systems
  • Archival of Large-Format Engineering Drawings
  • Legacy Corporate Document Scanning Pipelines
FreeHand
Use FreeHand when…
  • Legacy Graphic Design Portfolios
  • Historical Desktop Publishing Archival
  • Old Corporate Logo Vectors
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