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Image MIME Reference
FreeHand

Macromedia FreeHand Document

image/x-freehand
VS

Tagged Image File Format (Legacy MIME)

image/x-tiff
TIFF

A complete technical comparison of Macromedia FreeHand Document and Tagged Image File Format (Legacy MIME) — covering compression, feature support, browser compatibility, magic bytes, and when to choose each format.

Equal browser support

Feature Support

Feature FreeHand TIFF
Transparency (Alpha) Yes Yes
Animation Support Yes ✕ No
Progressive Loading ✕ No ✕ No
HDR Support ✕ No Yes
EXIF Metadata ✕ No Yes
ICC Color Profile Yes Yes
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 →
Tagged Image File Format (Legacy MIME)
image/x-tiff
Extension
.tiff.tif
Container IFD (Image File Directory) Tag Structure
Compression Uncompressed / LZW (Lossless) / ZIP / Deflate (Lossless) / PackBits (Lossless RLE) / JPEG (Lossy) / CCITT Group 3/4 (Fax/Document)
Algorithm
NoneLZWDeflatePackBitsJPEGCCITT
Color Depth 1-bit (Monochrome), 8-bit (Grayscale or Indexed), 16-bit (Per Channel), 32-bit (Float Per Channel)
Developed by Aldus Corporation (Later acquired by Adobe Systems)
Released 1986
Magic Bytes
49 49 2A 00 (Little-endian) or 4D 4D 00 2A (Big-endian)
Full TIFF reference →

Browser Support Comparison

Browser FreeHand TIFF
Chrome Chrome
✕ ✕
Firefox Firefox
✕ ✕
Safari Safari
✕ ✕
Edge Edge
✕ ✕
IE IE (Legacy)
✕ ✕
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
TIFF

TIFF Strengths

  • Universally accepted as the gold standard for high-fidelity archival and professional print workflows
  • Highly adaptable structure supports multiple pages (documents), layers, vast bit depths, and diverse compression algorithms within a single file
  • Unmatched support for rich metadata including EXIF, IPTC, XMP, and custom ICC color profiles
Limitations
  • Produces exceptionally large file sizes compared to modern web formats
  • The 'x-tiff' legacy MIME string forces developers to write extra validation logic to prevent strict security filters from rejecting valid uploads
  • The format's immense complexity means that many lightweight parsers only implement a subset of the specification, sometimes failing to read obscure compressions (like CCITT or old JPEG-in-TIFF)

When to choose which format

FreeHand
Use FreeHand when…
  • Legacy Graphic Design Portfolios
  • Historical Desktop Publishing Archival
  • Old Corporate Logo Vectors
TIFF
Use TIFF when…
  • Professional Print and Desktop Publishing
  • High-Resolution Archival Scanning
  • Master Copies of Digital Photography

More comparisons

FreeHand vs ACES → TIFF vs ACES → FreeHand vs APNG → TIFF vs APNG → FreeHand vs AVCI → TIFF vs AVCI → FreeHand vs AVCS → TIFF vs AVCS → FreeHand vs AVIF → TIFF vs AVIF → All comparisons →
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