Free webp to jpg
EN
Image MIME Reference
PaintShop-Pro-PSP

PaintShop Pro Image

image/x-paintshoppro
VS

GIMP Image Format

image/x-xcf
XCF

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

Equal browser support

Feature Support

Feature PaintShop-Pro-PSP XCF
Transparency (Alpha) Yes Yes
Animation Support ✕ No Yes
Progressive Loading ✕ No ✕ No
HDR Support Yes Yes
EXIF Metadata Yes Yes
ICC Color Profile Yes Yes
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 →
GIMP Image Format
image/x-xcf
Extension
.xcf
Container GIMP Hierarchical Chunk Container
Compression None / RLE (Run-Length Encoding) / Zlib / Deflate (In newer GIMP versions)
Algorithm
NoneRLEZlib
Color Depth 8-bit per channel, 16-bit per channel, 32-bit floating point
Developed by Spencer Kimball, Peter Mattis, and the GIMP Development Team
Released 1995
Magic Bytes
67 69 6D 70 20 78 63 66
Full XCF reference →

Browser Support Comparison

Browser PaintShop-Pro-PSP XCF
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
XCF

XCF Strengths

  • Preserves all non-destructive editing elements, layer hierarchies, masks, and alpha channels across GIMP sessions
  • Open and thoroughly documented specification within the open-source community, allowing third-party tools like Krita and ImageMagick to read project files
  • Reliable magic byte header prevents misidentification
Limitations
  • Massive file sizes because raw, unflattened layer bitmaps and masks are stored directly within the project archive
  • Completely proprietary to the GIMP ecosystem for deep editing; cannot be natively rendered or parsed by web browsers
  • Third-party software supporting XCF may occasionally struggle to render complex text layer adjustments or advanced layer blend modes identically to GIMP

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)
XCF
Use XCF when…
  • GIMP Native Project Archival
  • Layered Photo Editing and Graphic Design
  • Intermediary Asset Preparation for Export

More comparisons

PaintShop-Pro-PSP vs ACES → XCF vs ACES → PaintShop-Pro-PSP vs APNG → XCF vs APNG → PaintShop-Pro-PSP vs AVCI → XCF vs AVCI → PaintShop-Pro-PSP vs AVCS → XCF vs AVCS → PaintShop-Pro-PSP vs AVIF → XCF vs AVIF → All comparisons →
Share this comparison