{"id":"image-vnd-xiff","mimeType":"image/vnd.xiff","name":"Extended Image File Format","shortName":"XIFF","category":"Legacy \u0026 Proprietary","extensions":[".xif"],"description":"The image/vnd.xiff MIME type represents the Extended Image File Format (XIFF), a proprietary variant of the TIFF architecture developed by Keyfile Corporation in the mid-1990s. Designed specifically for enterprise document management and workflow systems (such as Keyfile Workflow), XIFF extended the standard TIFF specification to encapsulate multi-page scanned documents, advanced document annotations, routing slips, and administrative metadata. It is now entirely obsolete.","seo":{"title":"image/vnd.xiff MIME Type | Developer Reference for XIFF \u0026 Keyfile","description":"Complete reference for the image/vnd.xiff MIME type: Extended Image File Format, Keyfile enterprise document imaging history, and TIFF relationship.","faqs":[{"question":"What is an XIFF file?","answer":"An XIFF (.xif) file is a proprietary, TIFF-based document format created by Keyfile Corporation in the 1990s. It was used in enterprise document management systems to store scanned pages along with workflow routing slips and user annotations."},{"question":"Is XIFF just a standard TIFF file?","answer":"Structurally, yes. XIFF is built on top of the TIFF specification and shares the same core image file directory (IFD) layout, but it introduces proprietary private tags to store workflow metadata and annotations that standard TIFF viewers ignore."},{"question":"Can I open an .xif file today?","answer":"Modern web browsers and consumer image viewers cannot open XIFF files. Because the format is obsolete and tied to defunct enterprise software, viewing or converting them requires legacy specialized tools or custom parsing scripts to extract the underlying image streams."}]},"index":{"compression":["CCITT Group 3 / Group 4","LZW","Uncompressed"],"browserSupport":{"score":1,"label":"None"},"commonUses":["Keyfile Enterprise Document Management","Legacy Corporate Workflow Archival","Scanned Multi-page Document Routing"]},"technical":{"magicBytes":{"hex":"49 49 2A 00 or 4D 4D 00 2A","ascii":"II*\\x00 or MM\\x00*"},"container":"TIFF-based Proprietary Container","compressionAlgorithm":["CCITT Group 4","LZW","None"],"colorDepth":["1-bit (Monochrome)","8-bit (Grayscale)","24-bit (RGB)"],"transparency":false,"animation":false,"metadata":{"exif":false,"xmp":false,"iccProfile":false},"alphaChannel":false,"progressiveLoading":false,"hdrSupport":false},"history":{"developer":"Keyfile Corporation","released":"1994","specification":"Proprietary / Keyfile Workflow SDK"},"browserSupport":{"chrome":false,"chromeVersion":"None","firefox":false,"firefoxVersion":"None","safari":false,"safariVersion":"None","edge":false,"edgeVersion":"None","internetExplorer":false},"softwareSupport":[{"name":"Keyfile Workflow (Legacy)","logo":""}],"conversion":{"convertTo":["tiff","png"],"convertFrom":[]},"developer":{"httpHeaders":[{"header":"Content-Type","value":"image/vnd.xiff"}],"htmlAccept":"image/vnd.xiff, .xif","fileDetection":["Check the first 4 bytes for standard TIFF little-endian (49 49 2A 00) or big-endian (4D 4D 00 2A) signatures.","Because XIFF shares its header identically with standard TIFF files, file sniffers like libmagic will typically identify it as 'image/tiff'.","Distinguishing XIFF from standard TIFF requires inspecting the TIFF Image File Directory (IFD) for proprietary Keyfile tag definitions."]},"prosCons":{"pros":["Pioneered early enterprise document workflow integration by binding administrative routing data directly to the document image file","Leveraged efficient fax compression standards to keep storage requirements low on 1990s server infrastructure"],"cons":["Completely proprietary and obsolete; Keyfile Corporation's software ecosystem no longer exists","Causes widespread MIME type identification conflicts due to sharing the exact same binary header signature as standard TIFF files","Zero support in modern operating systems or web browsers"]},"specifications":{"url":"https://www.iana.org/assignments/media-types/image/vnd.xiff","rfc":"","mimeAliases":["image/xif"]},"developerSnippets":{"python":"import magic\n# Libmagic will identify XIFF files as standard TIFFs due to the shared 49 49 2A 00 / 4D 4D 00 2A header\nprint(magic.from_file('document.xif', mime=True)) # Outputs 'image/tiff'","nodejs":"const FileType = require('file-type');\nconst type = await FileType.fromFile('document.xif');\nconsole.log(type?.mime); // Usually resolves to 'image/tiff'. Extension checking is required for 'image/vnd.xiff'.","go":"import (\n    \"bytes\"\n    \"net/http\"\n)\n// http.DetectContentType will read the TIFF magic bytes and return 'image/tiff'.","php":"$mime = mime_content_type('document.xif');\necho $mime; // Standard PHP installations will resolve this to 'image/tiff'"},"relatedFormats":["tiff"]}