BMP vs XPM — Differences, File Size & When to Use Each

BMP vs XPM

Ein detaillierter Vergleich von BMP Image und X PixMap — Dateigröße, Qualität, Kompatibilität und welches je nach Workflow zu wählen ist.

BMP → XPM umwandeln XPM → BMP umwandeln

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.

Über BMP-Dateien

XPM

X PixMap

Raster & Vector Images

XPM (X PixMap) is a color image format for the X Window System that stores pixel data as ASCII text with a color palette. Unlike XBM, it supports full color and transparency through a simple text-based representation.

Über XPM-Dateien

Vorteilsvergleich

BMP Vorteile

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.

XPM Vorteile

Valid C source — directly embeddable in code.
Text-editable in any editor.
Transparency via "None" color value.
Stable since 1989 with no breaking changes.

Einschränkungen

BMP Einschränkungen

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.

XPM Einschränkungen

Enormous file sizes vs compressed formats.
Only useful within X11 / legacy Unix GUI ecosystem.
Limited color palette in classic form (256 colors max practical).
Superseded by PNG and SVG for modern UI.

Technische Spezifikationen

Spezifikation	BMP	XPM
MIME type	image/bmp	image/x-xpixmap
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	—	.xpm
Encoding	—	ASCII text (valid C source)
Native environment	—	X Window System (X11)
Predecessor	—	.xbm (X Bitmap, 1-bit)

Typische Dateigrößen

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

XPM

Small icon (32×32, 16 colors) 2-5 KB
Toolbar button set 10-50 KB

Bereit zum Umwandeln?

Wandle zwischen BMP und XPM online um, kostenlos und ohne Installation. Verschlüsselter Upload, automatische Löschung in 60 Minuten.

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Häufig gestellte Fragen

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.