Free webp to jpg
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Image MIME Reference
WebP

WebP Image

image/webp
VS

X Pixmap

image/x-xpixmap
XPM

A complete technical comparison of WebP Image and X Pixmap — covering compression, feature support, browser compatibility, magic bytes, and when to choose each format.

WebP wins on browser support

Feature Support

Feature WebP XPM
Transparency (Alpha) Yes Yes
Animation Support Yes ✕ No
Progressive Loading ✕ No ✕ No
HDR Support ✕ No ✕ No
EXIF Metadata Yes ✕ No
ICC Color Profile Yes ✕ No
WebP Image
image/webp
Extension
.webp
Container RIFF
Compression Lossy / Lossless
Algorithm
VP8VP8L
Color Depth 8-bit
Developed by Google
Released 2010
Magic Bytes
52 49 46 46 XX XX XX XX 57 45 42 50
Full WebP reference →
X Pixmap
image/x-xpixmap
Extension
.xpm
Container C Source Code Header (.c / .h)
Compression Uncompressed (Source Code)
Algorithm
None
Color Depth Indexed Color (Custom Palette with RGB and Alpha 'None')
Developed by Daniel Dardailler and Colas Nahaboo (Bull / X Consortium)
Released 1989
Magic Bytes
2F 2A 20 58 50 4D 20 2A 2F (ASCII '/* XPM */')
Full XPM reference →

Browser Support Comparison

Browser WebP XPM
Chrome Chrome
✓ 32+
 ✕
Firefox Firefox
✓ 65+
 ✕
Safari Safari
✓ 14+
 ✕
Edge Edge
✓ 18+
 ✕
IE IE (Legacy)
✕
✓
WebP

WebP Strengths

  • Superior lossy compression — 25–35% smaller than JPEG at equivalent quality
  • Supports both animation and full alpha transparency
  • Lossless mode available with smaller file sizes than PNG
Limitations
  • Slower encoding than JPEG, especially for lossless
  • Not supported in Internet Explorer or very old browsers
XPM

XPM Strengths

  • Can be compiled directly into C or C++ source code without requiring an external asset loading mechanism
  • Human-readable palette mapping allows developers to inspect, modify, or hand-craft icons directly within a text editor
  • Native support for color palettes and transparency via the 'None' keyword
Limitations
  • Extremely inefficient storage structure for large images, resulting in massive file bloat compared to binary formats like PNG
  • Completely obsolete and unsupported in modern web browsers
  • Parsing overhead requires compiling or interpreting text-based color tables at runtime

When to choose which format

WebP
Use WebP when…
  • Websites
  • Ecommerce
  • Mobile Apps
  • CMS Images
XPM
Use XPM when…
  • X Window System (X11) Application Icons and Cursors
  • Embedded C/C++ Firmware Color UI Assets
  • Early Linux Desktop Environment Themes

More comparisons

WebP vs ACES → XPM vs ACES → WebP vs APNG → XPM vs APNG → WebP vs AVCI → XPM vs AVCI → WebP vs AVCS → XPM vs AVCS → WebP vs AVIF → XPM vs AVIF → All comparisons →
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