Free webp to jpg
EN
Image MIME Reference
FLIF

Free Lossless Image Format

image/flif
VS

Adobe Photoshop Document

image/vnd.adobe.photoshop
PSD

A complete technical comparison of Free Lossless Image Format and Adobe Photoshop Document — covering compression, feature support, browser compatibility, magic bytes, and when to choose each format.

Equal browser support

Feature Support

Feature FLIF PSD
Transparency (Alpha) Yes Yes
Animation Support Yes Yes
Progressive Loading Yes ✕ No
HDR Support Yes Yes
EXIF Metadata Yes Yes
ICC Color Profile Yes Yes
Free Lossless Image Format
image/flif
Extension
.flif
Container FLIF Bitstream
Compression Lossless (MANIAC Entropy Coding)
Algorithm
MANIAC (Meta-Adaptive Near-zero Integer Arithmetic Coding)
Color Depth 1-bit to 16-bit (Per Channel), Grayscale, RGB, RGBA, CMYK
Developed by Jon Sneyers and Pieter Wuille (Cloudinary)
Released 2015
Magic Bytes
46 4C 49 46
Full FLIF reference →
Adobe Photoshop Document
image/vnd.adobe.photoshop
Extension
.psd.psb.pdd
Container Adobe Photoshop Document (PSD/PSB)
Compression Uncompressed / RLE (Run-Length Encoding) / ZIP
Algorithm
RLEZIP (with or without prediction)None
Color Depth 1-bit (Bitmap), 8-bit, 16-bit, 32-bit (Float/HDR)
Developed by Adobe Systems
Released 1990
Magic Bytes
38 42 50 53
Full PSD reference →

Browser Support Comparison

Browser FLIF PSD
Chrome Chrome
✕ ✕
Firefox Firefox
✕ ✕
Safari Safari
✕ ✕
Edge Edge
✕ ✕
IE IE (Legacy)
✕ ✕
FLIF

FLIF Strengths

  • Achieves some of the highest lossless compression ratios ever developed for raster images
  • Incredible progressive decoding allows an image to be highly recognizable even after only 5% of the file has been downloaded
  • Supports animations and complex alpha channels losslessly
Limitations
  • Officially abandoned in favor of JPEG XL
  • Zero native support in web browsers or standard operating system previewers
  • Encoding speed can be significantly slower than standard PNG or WebP compression
PSD

PSD Strengths

  • The undisputed global standard for layered raster graphics and non-destructive image editing
  • Supports incredibly complex compositions combining raster data, vector shapes, live text, and adjustment layers
  • Full support for advanced color spaces (CMYK, Lab, multi-channel) and 32-bit floating-point HDR workflows
Limitations
  • Proprietary format: while the specification is published, complete feature-parity is rarely achieved by third-party software (e.g., smart objects and complex layer styles often break)
  • Files can reach enormous sizes (gigabytes) due to the preservation of unflattened, high-resolution layer data
  • Zero support for native rendering in web browsers or standard mobile image viewers

When to choose which format

FLIF
Use FLIF when…
  • Archival of Uncompressed Image Assets
  • Bandwidth-Constrained Progressive Image Loading (Historical)
  • Medical and Scientific Imaging Storage
PSD
Use PSD when…
  • Professional Photo Retouching
  • Digital Painting and Illustration
  • UI/UX Design Workflows
  • Graphic Design and Print Production

More comparisons

FLIF vs ACES → PSD vs ACES → FLIF vs APNG → PSD vs APNG → FLIF vs AVCI → PSD vs AVCI → FLIF vs AVCS → PSD vs AVCS → FLIF vs AVIF → PSD vs AVIF → All comparisons →
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