ImageGear .NET v24.12 - Updated
Format Bit Depths
User Guide > File Formats and Compressions > File Formats > Format Bit Depths

You may want to convert a file from one format to another. You can do this by saving the original file to its desired format by setting the nFormatType parameter to the appropriate value in the saving method. For more information on converting issues, see the section Loading and Saving.

When saving a file to another format, remember to ensure that the desired file format is supported for that image. For example, you cannot convert an 8-bit DCX file to an 8-bit CAL file, because the CAL format does not support 8-bit files.

In the following table, the columns underneath the numbers indicated size in bits that can actually be saved (written). In each cell, a value of "R" indicates read-only support, and a value of "RW" indicates that ImageGear reads and writes the corresponding file format.

Format 1 4 8 9-16 24 32 36 48 64 Notes
BMP RW RW RW RW RW R        
BTR RW                  
CAL RW                  
CGM                   Read-write support. Specific bit-depths are not considered.
CLP RW RW RW   RW          
CR2       R       R    
CRW       R       R    
CUR RW RW RW     RW       Also supports Extra ((1, 3, 4, 8)*2)-bit images.
CUT     RW              
DCRAW       R       R    
DCX RW RW RW   RW          
DGN                   Read support. Specific bit-depths are not considered.
DIB RW RW RW R RW R        
DICOM RW   RW RW RW RW   RW    
DNG       R       R    
DOCX                   Read-only support. Specific bit-depths are not considered.
DOC Read-only support. Specific bit-depths are not considered.
DWF                   Read-write support. Specific bit-depths are not considered.
DWG                   Read support. Specific bit-depths are not considered.
DXF                   Read support. Specific bit-depths are not considered.
GEM R R R              
GIF RW RW RW              
Hasselblad Raw       R       R    
HD Photo RW   RW RW RW RW   RW RW  
Headerless Camera Raw       R       R    
HPGL                   Read-write support. Specific bit-depths are not considered.
ICO RW RW RW     RW        
IFF RW RW RW   RW          
Imacon Raw       R       R    
IMG R   R              
IMR R                  
IMT RW                  
IOCA RW R R   R          
JPEG     RW RW RW RW RW RW   8-bit grayscale.
JPEG 2000 RW RW RW RW RW RW   RW    
JPX RW RW RW RW RW RW   RW    
KFX R                  
KodakRAW       R       R    
LeicaRAW       R       R    
LV R                  
MEF       R       R    
MODCA RW R R   R          
MOS       R       R    
MRW       R       R    
MSP R                  
NCR RW R                
NEF       R       R    
ORF       R       R    
PBM RW   RW RW RW     RW    
PCD         R          
PCX RW RW RW   RW          
PDF RW RW RW   RW RW        
PEF       R       R    
PGM     RW RW           Supports 16-bit grayscale images also.
PhaseOne Raw       R     R      
PNG RW RW RW RW RW RW   RW RW Supports 48(RGB)- and 64(RGB+alpha)-bit images.
PNM RW   RW RW RW     RW   Supports 16-bit grayscale and 48-bit color images also
PPM         RW     RW    
PPTX                   Read-only support. Specific bit-depths are not considered.
PPT Read-only support. Specific bit-depths are not considered.
PS RW RW RW   RW RW        
PSB RW RW RW RW RW RW   R R  
PSD RW RW RW RW RW RW   R R  
PTOCA     R              
RAF       R       R    
RAS RW R RW   RW          
Scitex CT           RW       The native format is CMYK. With full CMYK support enabled, you can use 32-bit images.
SGI     RW RW RW RW        
SonyRaw       R       R    
SVG                   Read-write support. Specific bit-depths are not considered.
TGA RW   RW RW RW RW        
TIFF RW RW RW RW RW RW RW RW RW Read only supports 3- and 6- bpp for RGB and LAB color spaces for Deflate Compression, LZW (Lempel-Ziv-Welch) Compression, Packbits Compression and uncompressed.
U3D                   Read-write support. Specific bit-depths are not considered.
WBMP RW                  
WPG R R R              
XBM RW                  
XLSX                   Read-only support. Specific bit-depths are not considered.
XLS Read-only support. Specific bit-depths are not considered.
XPM RW RW RW   R          
XPS RW   RW RW RW RW   RW RW  
XWD RW RW RW   RW