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Image MIME Reference
FITS

Flexible Image Transport System

image/fits
VS

MacPaint Image

image/x-macpaint
MacPaint

A complete technical comparison of Flexible Image Transport System and MacPaint Image — covering compression, feature support, browser compatibility, magic bytes, and when to choose each format.

Equal browser support

Feature Support

Feature FITS MacPaint
Transparency (Alpha) ✕ No ✕ No
Animation Support ✕ No ✕ No
Progressive Loading ✕ No ✕ No
HDR Support Yes ✕ No
EXIF Metadata ✕ No ✕ No
ICC Color Profile ✕ No ✕ No
Flexible Image Transport System
image/fits
Extension
.fits.fit.fts
Container FITS
Compression Uncompressed / Tile Compressed (Rice, GZIP)
Algorithm
UncompressedRiceGZIPHcompress
Color Depth 8-bit, 16-bit, 32-bit, 64-bit (Float/Double)
Developed by IAU FITS Working Group / NASA
Released 1981
Magic Bytes
53 49 4D 50 4C 45 20 20 3D 20
Full FITS reference →
MacPaint Image
image/x-macpaint
Extension
.mac.pntg.pnt.macp
Container Raw pixel payload with a 512-byte pattern header
Compression PackBits (Run-Length Encoding)
Algorithm
PackBits (Apple RLE)
Color Depth 1-bit (Monochrome)
Developed by Apple Computer, Inc. (Bill Atkinson)
Released 1984
Magic Bytes
None (Relies on classic Mac OS 'PNTG' OSType)
Full MacPaint reference →

Browser Support Comparison

Browser FITS MacPaint
Chrome Chrome
✕ ✕
Firefox Firefox
✕ ✕
Safari Safari
✕ ✕
Edge Edge
✕ ✕
IE IE (Legacy)
✕ ✕
FITS

FITS Strengths

  • The undisputed global standard for archiving and sharing astronomical data
  • Self-documenting: Headers are written in plain ASCII, ensuring data is readable decades later regardless of software
  • Supports incredibly high dynamic range, N-dimensional arrays, and complex binary tables
Limitations
  • No support in standard consumer software or web browsers
  • Uncompressed raw FITS files from modern telescopes can be excessively large
  • Does not use standard metadata models like EXIF or XMP, requiring specialized parsers
MacPaint

MacPaint Strengths

  • Profoundly historically significant as the format that introduced millions to the concept of bitmap digital painting
  • Extremely simple PackBits compression makes it easy for emulator developers or archivists to write parsers from scratch in under an hour
Limitations
  • Severely limited: strictly black and white, and hard-locked to exactly 576 x 720 pixels
  • Lack of standard magic bytes makes programmatic file sniffing unreliable on modern filesystems without relying on the file extension
  • Completely obsolete and unsupported by modern web browsers or consumer image viewers

When to choose which format

FITS
Use FITS when…
  • Astronomy & Astrophysics
  • Space Telescope Data (Hubble, JWST)
  • Scientific Data Archiving
  • Spectroscopy
MacPaint
Use MacPaint when…
  • Historical Apple Macintosh Archival
  • Early 1980s Digital Art Preservation
  • Retro UI/UX Academic Research

More comparisons

FITS vs ACES → MacPaint vs ACES → FITS vs APNG → MacPaint vs APNG → FITS vs AVCI → MacPaint vs AVCI → FITS vs AVCS → MacPaint vs AVCS → FITS vs AVIF → MacPaint vs AVIF → All comparisons →
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