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Image MIME Reference
MrSID

Multi-resolution Seamless Image Database

image/x-mrsid-image
VS

PaintShop Pro Image

image/x-paintshoppro
PaintShop-Pro-PSP

A complete technical comparison of Multi-resolution Seamless Image Database and PaintShop Pro Image — covering compression, feature support, browser compatibility, magic bytes, and when to choose each format.

Equal browser support

Feature Support

Feature MrSID PaintShop-Pro-PSP
Transparency (Alpha) Yes Yes
Animation Support ✕ No ✕ No
Progressive Loading Yes ✕ No
HDR Support ✕ No Yes
EXIF Metadata Yes Yes
ICC Color Profile Yes Yes
Multi-resolution Seamless Image Database
image/x-mrsid-image
Extension
.sid
Container Proprietary MrSID Container
Compression Proprietary Wavelet (Lossy) / Proprietary Wavelet (Lossless)
Algorithm
Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT)
Color Depth 8-bit (Grayscale), 24-bit (RGB), Multi-spectral (Multiple bands)
Developed by Los Alamos National Laboratory / LizardTech (Extensis)
Released 1992
Magic Bytes
6D 73 69 64
Full MrSID 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 MrSID PaintShop-Pro-PSP
Chrome Chrome
✕ ✕
Firefox Firefox
✕ ✕
Safari Safari
✕ ✕
Edge Edge
✕ ✕
IE IE (Legacy)
✕ ✕
MrSID

MrSID Strengths

  • Incredible compression ratios enable multi-gigabyte geographical datasets to be stored on standard hard drives or transmitted easily
  • Multi-resolution architecture means panning and zooming across a massive map is completely fluid, as the system decodes only the visible quadrant at the required zoom level
  • Supports multi-spectral bands critical for remote sensing and agricultural GIS analysis
Limitations
  • Deeply proprietary; creating or decoding MrSID files typically requires expensive commercial software or the proprietary Extensis DSDK
  • Open-source geospatial libraries like GDAL require compiling against the proprietary SDK to legally enable MrSID support, causing licensing headaches for Linux server deployments
  • Not natively viewable on the web without specialized geospatial map servers (like GeoServer or MapServer) tiling the image into PNGs or JPEGs on the fly
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

MrSID
Use MrSID when…
  • Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
  • Satellite Imagery Archival
  • Aerial Orthophotography Mosaics
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

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