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Image MIME Reference
PaintShop-Pro-PSP

PaintShop Pro Image

image/x-paintshoppro
VS

Simple Vector Format

image/vnd.svf
SVF

A complete technical comparison of PaintShop Pro Image and Simple Vector Format — covering compression, feature support, browser compatibility, magic bytes, and when to choose each format.

Equal browser support

Feature Support

Feature PaintShop-Pro-PSP SVF
Transparency (Alpha) Yes Yes
Animation Support ✕ No ✕ No
Progressive Loading ✕ No ✕ No
HDR Support Yes ✕ No
EXIF Metadata Yes ✕ No
ICC Color Profile Yes ✕ No
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 →
Simple Vector Format
image/vnd.svf
Extension
.svf
Container Custom Binary/Text (Legacy) or ZIP (Autodesk Forge)
Compression Uncompressed / Deflate (in modern Autodesk SVF implementations)
Algorithm
None
Color Depth Vector Data (Not Applicable)
Developed by SoftSource & NCSA (National Center for Supercomputing Applications)
Released 1995
Magic Bytes
Unknown (SoftSource SVF)
Full SVF reference →

Browser Support Comparison

Browser PaintShop-Pro-PSP SVF
Chrome Chrome
✕ ✕
Firefox Firefox
✕ ✕
Safari Safari
✕ ✕
Edge Edge
✕ ✕
IE IE (Legacy)
✕ ✕
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
SVF

SVF Strengths

  • Acted as a crucial pioneering stepping-stone in proving that scalable, zoomable vector graphics were viable and necessary for the World Wide Web
Limitations
  • Completely obsolete and unsupported by modern web standards
  • Required end-users to install bulky, proprietary browser plugins
  • Causes significant developer confusion today due to Autodesk adopting the exact same acronym and file extension for a completely different technology

When to choose which format

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)
SVF
Use SVF when…
  • Historical Web-based CAD Viewers (1990s)
  • Legacy 2D Vector Archival
  • Autodesk Platform Services (Forge) Model Translation (Name Collision)

More comparisons

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