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FreeHand

Macromedia FreeHand Document

image/x-freehand Released 1988 · by Altsys / Aldus / Macromedia

The image/x-freehand MIME type represents document files created by Macromedia FreeHand (and earlier versions by Altsys and Aldus), a highly popular 2D vector graphics editor from the late 1980s through the early 2000s. FreeHand was extensively used for desktop publishing, illustration, and web design layout. Following Adobe's acquisition of Macromedia in 2005, FreeHand was discontinued in 2007 in favor of its direct competitor, Adobe Illustrator. The proprietary binary format stores scalable vector paths, typography, and layout data, but is now considered obsolete.

Vector Graphics & Legacy Transparency Animation Production Ready

Technical Specifications

MIME Type
image/x-freehand
Extensions
.fh.fh4.fh5.fh7.fh8.fh9.fh10.fh11.ft11
Container
Proprietary Binary (Aldus Graphic Document)
Compression
Uncompressed & Deflate (in later versions)
Algorithms
NoneDeflate (Optional in later versions)
Color Depth
Vector Data (RGB/CMYK)
Metadata
XMP ICC
Capabilities
Transparency
Animation
Progressive Loading
Alpha Channel
HDR Support
Official Specification
Aliases: application/x-freehandimage/freehand

Magic Bytes & HTTP Headers

File Signature (Magic Bytes)
41 47 44 31 to 41 47 44 34
ASCII: AGD1, AGD2, AGD3, AGD4
HTTP Headers
Content-Type: image/x-freehand
Content-Type: application/x-freehand
HTML Accept Attribute
accept="image/x-freehand, .fh11, .fh10, .fh"

Browser Support Matrix

Browser Status Min Version
Chrome Chrome
Not Supported
Firefox Firefox
Not Supported
Safari Safari
Not Supported
Edge Edge
Not Supported
Internet Explorer Internet Explorer
Not Supported Legacy

Advantages & Limitations

Advantages
  • 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

Developer Code Snippets

import magic
# Libmagic can usually identify FreeHand versions based on their AGD header
print(magic.from_file('vector.fh11', mime=True)) # Often outputs 'application/x-freehand' or 'image/x-freehand'
const fs = require('fs');
// Manually detecting the FreeHand AGD magic bytes
const buffer = Buffer.alloc(4);
const fd = fs.openSync('vector.fh11', 'r');
fs.readSync(fd, buffer, 0, 4, 0);
fs.closeSync(fd);
const signature = buffer.toString('ascii', 0, 4);
const isFreeHand = signature.startsWith('AGD');
console.log('Is Macromedia FreeHand:', isFreeHand, `(Signature: ${signature})`);
import (
    "bytes"
    "os"
)
// Native Go HTTP detection will not recognize FreeHand.
// You must read the first 4 bytes and verify the AGD signature:
// isFreeHand := len(buf) >= 4 && bytes.HasPrefix(buf, []byte("AGD"))
$mime = mime_content_type('vector.fh11');
echo $mime; // Without updated magic database definitions, this will frequently default to 'application/octet-stream'

File Detection Steps

How to programmatically detect a image/x-freehand file by reading its raw bytes:

  1. 1 Later versions of FreeHand files (FH8 through FH11) typically begin with the ASCII signature 'AGD' (Aldus Graphic Document) followed by a version digit, e.g., 'AGD3' for FreeHand 10 or 'AGD4' for FreeHand MX (11).
  2. 2 Earlier versions (FH3 to FH7) have varied, complex binary headers and often rely heavily on the file extension (.fh3, .fh4, etc.) for identification.
  3. 3 The format is deeply proprietary and effectively requires the libfreehand C++ library to parse the internal node structures programmatically.

Software Support

I
Inkscape (via libfreehand)
L
LibreOffice Draw
C
CorelDRAW
M
Macromedia FreeHand MX (Legacy)

Conversion Tools

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Interactive iframe Widget
<iframe src="https://freewebptojpg.com/mime/image/freehand/embed" width="100%" height="280" style="border:1px solid #cbd5e1;border-radius:8px;" title="FreeHand Specs"></iframe>

JSON API

All data on this page is available as a free, open JSON API. Use it in your project, documentation, or tooling.

GET https://freewebptojpg.com/mime/image/freehand.json Open JSON
Free to use
No auth required
CORS enabled
Use from any domain
Cached 24h
Cache-Control headers set

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a FreeHand (.fh11, .fh10) file?

It is a legacy vector graphics project file created by Macromedia FreeHand. It contains scalable paths, text, and page layouts commonly used by graphic designers before Adobe discontinued the software in 2007.

How can I open a Macromedia FreeHand file today?

Modern versions of Adobe Illustrator no longer support FreeHand files natively. The best modern, free solution is to use Inkscape or LibreOffice Draw, which utilize the open-source 'libfreehand' library to import and display legacy FreeHand documents.

Why does my file have an extension like .fh8 or .fh11?

Unlike modern software that uses a single unified extension (like .ai or .psd), FreeHand appended the version number directly into the file extension. For example, a file created in FreeHand MX (Version 11) uses the .fh11 extension.

Related Formats

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