Table of Contents
Supported file formats in Fotoware
An overview of supported file formats in Fotoware.
30. April 2025
Table of Contents
Supported formats
| File format | Remark |
|---|---|
| JPEG | EXIF Header Read/Write |
| TIFF | EXIF Header Read |
| Photoshop PSD | PSD files must be saved with the Maximize Compatibility option to allow the generation of thumbnails and previews in Fotoware. |
| Photoshop EPS | |
| GIF | Animated GIF is treated as a movie. |
| PNG | |
| BMP | |
| TXT | Free text search and metadata search. A preview is generated. |
| RTF | Free text search and metadata search. A preview is generated. |
| XML | Metadata search. No preview is generated. |
| RAW files | EXIF Header Read. See note 1 below for more information. |
| Video and audio | See note 2 below for more information. |
| Targa | |
| PPM | |
| JPEG2000 | |
| Photo CD | Read (Windows only) |
| Adobe Illustrator (AI) | Requires third-party EPS file processing software |
| Generic EPS | Requires third-party EPS file processing software |
| Adobe PDF | |
| Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) |
An XML-based vector image format for two-dimensional graphics. Thumbnail and preview are created for SVG files, but Color Factory cannot process them and will treat them as unknown files. Supported since Fotoware 8.0 Feature Release 3. |
| Computer Graphics Metafile (CGM) | A free and open international standard file format for 2D vector graphics, raster graphics, and text. It is defined by ISO/IEC 8632. Supported since Fotoware 8.0 Feature Release 3. |
| OPUS audio file | A codec used with the OGG audio container. |
| WMA | Windows Media Audio format |
| WebP | WebP format graphics. A preview is generated. Metadata search. |
| VOB | DVD Video Container format |
Remarks for FotoStation
| File format | Remark |
|---|---|
| JPEG | Read/Write. EXIF Header Read/Write |
| TIFF | Read/Write. EXIF Header Read |
| Photoshop EPS | Read/Write |
| Video | Selectable thumbnail. Plays in grid. See Note 2 for more video information. |
In archives created by Fotoware Index Manager additional formats can be viewed. See Index Manager for more information.
Audio file playback in FotoStation is supported via QuickTime.
Remarks for Index Manager
Any file (format) can store XMP Metadata either embedded or in a sidecar .XMP file. Metadata will be indexed for all indexed files. Both XMP and IPTC metadata are supported when available.
Note: The table below only contains formats with some type of remark.
Formats not included in the table are always supported with Metadata indexing.
| File format | Remark |
|---|---|
| JPEG | EXIF Header Read |
| TIFF | EXIF Header Read |
| Nikon NEF | EXIF Header Read |
| Canon CRW,CR2 | EXIF Header Read |
| MS Word (DOC,DOCX,DOT,DOTX ) | Text content indexed and preview generated. |
| MS PowerPoint (PPT,PPTX) | Text content indexed and preview generated. |
| MS Excel (XLS, XLSX) | Text content indexed and preview generated. |
| Adobe Indesign (INDD) | See the comment below. |
| Generic EPS | Text content indexed and preview generated. See note below. |
| Adobe PDF | Text content indexed and preview generated. |
| Adobe Illustrator (AI) | Text content indexed and preview generated. See the note below for more information. |
InDesign Documents
Text content will be added to the Content preview field in the Metadata. This will update the metadata and may create a sidecar file.
Adobe Illustrator files:
Index Manager and Color Factory support content extraction for indexing and preview generation of Adobe Illustrator documents, provided support software is available on the server.
Files from different versions are handled differently due to variations of the Adobe Illustrator file formats:
- Documents from version 8 and higher are natively handled by Fotoware (requires enabling the Create PDF Compatible File option when saving the document). In this case, no additional support software is required.
- Documents from version 8 and higher that have been saved without the Create PDF Compatible File can be handled if Adobe InDesign Server is available.
- Documents from version 7 and lower require Adobe Distiller Server or PSStill on the server.
EPS Vector support
To support the indexing of document content and the generation of high-quality thumbnails and previews of EPS vector graphics, you need to install third-party EPS file processing software, such as Ghostscript (external link).
This functionality also requires installing third-party PS file processing softwareon the Color Factory server.
InDesign support notes
In the current Fotoware version, you can use Adobe InDesign Server to index InDesign files. The license for Adobe InDesign server must be purchased separately.
Remarks for Color Factory
| File format | Remark |
|---|---|
| JPEG | Read/Write, EXIF Header Read/Write, Photoshop resource Read/Write |
| TIFF | Read/Write, EXIF Header Read, Photoshop resource Read/Write, 8 and 16 bits |
| Photoshop PSD | Read/Write, Layer information Read/Write, Photoshop resource Read/Write, 8 and 16 bits. |
| Photoshop EPS | Read/Write, Photoshop resource Read/Write. DCS 1 and DCS 2 |
| GIF | Read/Write, Only 8-bit GIF written, Transparency supported |
| PNG | Read/Write, 24 or 8 bits written. Transparency and Alpha channel supported |
| BMP | Read/Write |
| PPM | Read/Write |
| Video | Conversion to animated GIF supported |
| MS Word (DOC,DOCX,DOT,DOTX) | Bitmap and preview generated. |
| MS PowerPoint (PPT,PPTX) | Bitmap and preview generated. |
| MS Excel (XLS, XLSX) | Bitmap and preview generated. |
| Adobe Indesign (INDD) | Bitmap and preview generated. Requires Adobe Indesign CS2. |
| Macromedia Freehand (FHnn) | Bitmap and preview generated. Requires Macromedia Freehand MX. |
| Generic EPS | Bitmap and preview generated. Requires third-party EPS file processing software. |
| Adobe PDF | Bitmap and preview generated. |
| Adobe Illustrator | See the information listed in the Index Manager section above |
Note 1: RAW format support
RAW format support uses the Adobe DNG Converter. FotoStation, Index Manager, and Color Factory use the DNG converter to extract metadata and render thumbnails and previews of RAW files.
Note 2: Video and audio formats
FotoWeb supports the transcoding of most video formats and several audio formats. When licensed with the optional audio and video module, the performance of the transcoder can be adjusted (core and memory allocation), and additional enhanced playback functionality is made available.
FotoStation gets thumbnail and poster frame extraction from the Index Manager server, which uses the DirectShow (Windows Media) framework for extraction. DirectShow is a framework that enables users to install plugins/codecs to play back content, and depending on the encoding of the audio/video, you will need a suitable codec to play back the content. Some codecs may be freely available, while others are only available for purchase.
Learn more about how Index Manager handles video.
Deprecated formats since Fotoware version 7.0
| File format | Remark |
|---|---|
| Shockwave Flash (SWF) | Not supported |