Fractal Image Format

File Format
Name	Fractal Image Format
Ontology	Electronic File Formats Graphics Fractal Image Format
Extension(s)	.fif
PRONOM	x-fmt/320

FIF (Fractal Image Format) is a raster image format that uses lossy fractal compression. It is apparently a proprietary format developed by Iterated Systems.

Identification

Some FIF files begin with bytes 'F' 'I' 'F' 0x01.

This demo includes FIF files that begin with "FTC".

Software

• XnView
• Genuine Fractals Photoshop plug-in
• Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia licensed FIF for image compression.

Sample files

• http://users.senet.com.au/~mjbone/Fractals.html → River.fif
• https://telparia.com/fileFormatSamples/image/fractalImageFormat/

Links

• Wikipedia: Fractal compression
• Archived web page about discontinued Fractal Imager and Fractal Viewer products
• Atlanta Journal Article about Iterated Systems (1999-04-12)
• Fractal Image Compression, American Scientist (1996 Sept-Oct issue)
• Mathematics Awareness Week - April 1998 - High-level explanation of technology behind the format.