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BMP vs MIFF

BMP vs MIFF

A detailed comparison of BMP Image and ImageMagick MIFF — file size, quality, compatibility, and which format to choose for your workflow.

Convert BMP → MIFF Convert MIFF → BMP
BMP

BMP Image

Raster & Vector Images

BMP is an uncompressed raster image format native to Windows. Files are large but preserve exact pixel data with no compression artifacts. Rarely used on the web due to file size.

About BMP files
MIFF

ImageMagick MIFF

Raster & Vector Images

MIFF (Magick Image File Format) is the native format of ImageMagick, supporting all of its internal features including multiple image layers, color profiles, and arbitrary metadata. It serves as a lossless interchange format within ImageMagick processing chains.

About MIFF files

Strengths Comparison

BMP Strengths

  • Dead-simple format — trivially easy to read and write.
  • Lossless and uncompressed — perfect bit-exact pixel storage.
  • Universally supported in Windows applications since 1985.
  • Supports 1, 4, 8, 16, 24, and 32-bit color depths.

MIFF Strengths

  • Preserves ImageMagick's full fidelity.
  • Arbitrary bit depth + color profile.
  • Streaming pipeline intermediate.

Limitations

BMP Limitations

  • Enormous file sizes — no meaningful compression in typical use.
  • Not a web format — browsers support it but nobody serves BMPs over HTTP.
  • No metadata support (no EXIF, no ICC profile in practice).
  • Multiple header versions mean "a BMP" is ambiguous — parsers must handle several variants.

MIFF Limitations

  • ImageMagick-only.
  • Not a delivery format.
  • Large files.

Technical Specifications

Specification BMP MIFF
MIME type image/bmp image/x-miff
Extensions .bmp, .dib —
Compression None (typical); RLE 4/8 bit (rare) —
Color depths 1, 4, 8, 16, 24, 32 bits per pixel —
Byte order Little-endian —
Extension — .miff
Native tool — ImageMagick
Bit depths — Any (ImageMagick-supported)

Typical File Sizes

BMP

  • Small icon (32×32) 4 KB
  • Screenshot (1920×1080) ~6 MB
  • 4K image (3840×2160) ~25 MB
  • Scanned A4 at 300 dpi ~25 MB

MIFF

  • 1920×1080 8-bit MIFF ~6 MB
  • 1920×1080 32-bit float ~25 MB

Ready to convert?

Convert between BMP and MIFF online, free, and without installing anything. Encrypted upload, automatic deletion after 60 minutes.

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Frequently Asked Questions

BMP (Bitmap) is a raster image format developed by Microsoft for Windows. It stores images with no compression by default, resulting in large file sizes but pixel-perfect quality. It has been part of Windows since version 1.0.

BMP (Bitmap) is a raster image formato developed by Microsoft para Windows. It stores images com no compressão by default, resulting in large tamanho do arquivos mas pixel-perfect quality. It has been part of Windows since version 1.0.

BMP files open in Windows Paint, Photos, macOS Preview, GIMP, Photoshop, and virtually any image viewer. All Windows applications support BMP natively.

BMP arquivos abrir in Windows Paint, Photos, macOS Preview, GIMP, Photoshop, e virtually any image viewer. All Windows aplicativos support BMP natively.

PNG is better than BMP in almost every scenario since it provides lossless compression (smaller files), transparency support, and wider cross-platform use. BMP is mainly relevant for legacy Windows applications.

PNG is melhor que BMP in almost every scenario since it fornece sem perdas compressão (smaller files), transparência support, e wider cross-platform use. BMP is mainly relevant para legacy Windows aplicativos.