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SLD

AutoCAD Slide

image/vnd.sld Released 1980s · by Autodesk, Inc.

The image/vnd.sld MIME type represents the AutoCAD Slide format, a legacy proprietary graphics format created by Autodesk. Introduced in the 1980s, SLD files are stripped-down, non-editable snapshots of AutoCAD drawing viewports (DWG/DXF). Designed for an era with severe hardware limitations, they allowed users to instantly load and display complex CAD drawings in automated slideshows or as custom icon menus within the AutoCAD interface, avoiding the massive computational overhead of loading full 3D geometry.

CAD & Legacy Vectors Production Ready

Technical Specifications

MIME Type
image/vnd.sld
Extensions
.sld
Container
AutoCAD Slide Container
Compression
Uncompressed (Vector Instructions)
Algorithms
None
Color Depth
8-bit (AutoCAD Indexed Color)
Metadata
None
Capabilities
Transparency
Animation
Progressive Loading
Alpha Channel
HDR Support
Official Specification
Aliases: application/x-sldimage/x-sld

Magic Bytes & HTTP Headers

File Signature (Magic Bytes)
41 75 74 6F 43 41 44 20 53 6C 69 64 65 0D 0A 1A 00
ASCII: AutoCAD Slide\r\n\x1a\x00
HTTP Headers
Content-Type: image/vnd.sld
HTML Accept Attribute
accept="image/vnd.sld, .sld"

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
  • Allowed for instantaneous loading of highly complex architectural and engineering blueprints on low-memory MS-DOS systems
  • Easy-to-parse binary structure containing simple opcodes for drawing vectors and polygons
Limitations
  • Completely obsolete and heavily fragmented, largely replaced by PDF and lightweight web-based DXF viewers
  • Destructive 'snapshot' format irrevocably strips all useful, editable CAD geometry data from the original drawing
  • Zero support in web browsers or standard image processing libraries

Developer Code Snippets

import magic
# Libmagic will reliably detect the 'AutoCAD Slide' header string
print(magic.from_file('blueprint.sld', mime=True)) # May output 'image/vnd.sld' or 'application/octet-stream' depending on the definition file
const fs = require('fs');
// Manually detecting the AutoCAD Slide magic string
const buffer = Buffer.alloc(13);
const fd = fs.openSync('blueprint.sld', 'r');
fs.readSync(fd, buffer, 0, 13, 0);
fs.closeSync(fd);
const isSLD = buffer.toString('ascii') === 'AutoCAD Slide';
console.log('Is AutoCAD Slide:', isSLD);
import (
    "bytes"
    "net/http"
)
// http.DetectContentType will not natively recognize this format. Use a custom prefix check:
// isSLD := bytes.HasPrefix(buf, []byte("AutoCAD Slide"))
$mime = mime_content_type('blueprint.sld');
echo $mime; // Standard PHP installations often fall back to 'application/octet-stream'

File Detection Steps

How to programmatically detect a image/vnd.sld file by reading its raw bytes:

  1. 1 Check the first 17 bytes of the file for the magic string 'AutoCAD Slide\r\n\x1a\x00' (Hex: 41 75 74 6F 43 41 44 20 53 6C 69 64 65 0D 0A 1A 00).
  2. 2 Some variations of the header might exist for different AutoCAD versions, but all valid SLD files start with the ASCII text 'AutoCAD Slide'.

Software Support

A
Autodesk AutoCAD
X
XnView
I
IrfanView (with plugins)

Conversion Tools

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Interactive iframe Widget
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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/sld.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 an AutoCAD Slide (.sld) file?

An AutoCAD Slide file is a legacy snapshot format created by Autodesk. It stores a simplified, non-editable visual representation of an AutoCAD viewport (lines and polygons) designed to load almost instantly on older, resource-constrained computers.

Can I edit the CAD geometry in a .sld file?

No. Unlike standard DWG or DXF files, SLD files do not retain underlying 2D or 3D vector geometry, layers, or editable metadata. They are purely visual 'slides' intended for quick viewing and cannot be meaningfully edited back into a working CAD project.

How do I open a .sld file today?

Modern web browsers and consumer image viewers do not support SLD files. You must use legacy versions of AutoCAD (via the VSLIDE command), specialized CAD viewers, or legacy image software like XnView or IrfanView equipped with CAD plugins to view them.

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